Fig. 1

Schematic diagram outlining the stages of the MRI examination process. The top row displays the scanner status, alternating between active scanning (green) and idle time (coral). The three timelines below demonstrate a sequence of patient examinations. The middle timeline follows Patient A’s complete examination cycle: patient arrival to exam start time (red) begins when Patient A enters the facility and includes time in changing room and preparation bay; table turnaround time (blue) is defined as the interval between undocking Patient Z’s table and docking Patient A’s table; positioning time (gray) represents both the initial period between table docking and start of scanning, and the final period between last sequence and table undocking; acquisition time (yellow) captures the duration of active scanning. The bottom timeline shows the beginning of Patient B’s examination as Patient A’s concludes. The total process cycle is defined as the interval from the start of one examination to the start of the next (e.g., Exam A Start to Exam B Start).