Fig. 1

One MRI session does not trigger any genotoxic effect. The dicentric chromosome assay was performed on blood cells of volunteers sampled 30, 15, and 0 days before the exam to take into account the heterogeneity of the background (mean in black). The potential effect of one MRI session was assessed the day of the first MRI and prior to the second MRI (mean in red). Unstable aberrations (Dic + Tric + ring) were scored after telomere and centromere staining, as well as acentric fragments (type E acentrics, acentrics in excess), those resulting from Dics or ring being excluded). Total breaks were calculated from these data. Ac, Acentric fragment; Dic, Dicentric chromosome; MRI, Magnetic resonance imaging; n.s., No significant differences; Tric, Tricentric chromosome