MRI Artifacts: Head Position Matters

KREMS, Austria - Feb. 17, 2026 - PRLog -- Dark, diamond-shaped spots in inner ear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans are not always signs of pathological changes – they can simply result from how a person is positioned in the scanner. A pilot study at the Karl Landsteiner University (KL Krems) shows that characteristic "flow void" artifacts in the inner ear become markedly more pronounced when the head is tilted back and less when the chin is tilted down. With the head tilted back, some volunteers also reported dizziness. The work supports the idea that strong magnetic fields can drive inner ear fluid motion. It further suggests that head position should be considered when interpreting brain and inner ear MRI scans – and when trying to keep people comfortable in high-field scanners.

Original publication

Head position matters: Position-dependent vestibular flow void artifacts in inner ear MRI and their clinical implications, D Javor: M Leyer: BK Ward: B Bennani-Baiti: E Ranharter: M Bauer: M Kirschbaum: M Brunner: B Büki, European Journal of Radiology 195 (2026) 112638, doi:10.1016/j.ejrad.2025.112638. https://kris.kl.ac.at/en/publications/head-position-matters-positiondependent-vestibular-flow-void-arti/

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