Kids Were Terrified of Getting MRIs. Then One Man Figured Out a Better Way

As for the noise (that other people were flippantly dismissing), it really can be jarring. Cover your ears with your hands, with your fingers pointed towards the back of your head at about at 45 degree upward angle. Then, repeatedly bang your head with your middle fingers while your ears are still covered. That's roughly the a quieter version of one of the more unsettling sounds.

I'm quite used to it -- to the point that I always ask the tech to tape my head in case I fall asleep and move -- but still. That sound is not just the rhythm backing a techno song; it's the sound of parts swirling around you with massive energy.

It maybe safe, but so are roller coasters. Yet, while you go on a roller coaster looking for a thrill, you enter an MRI machine with the very real fear that something could be very wrong with you. That's not going to make for a pleasant experience. And, it's not surprising that that underlying fear might be projected elsewhere.

I am not someone who generally suffers from claustrophobia, but as a tall person (6ft 5in) who is by no means fat, I can honestly say it was one of the worst things I've had to do. My shoulders are broad enough that it felt as if I was uncomfortably wedged within the machine, and that I was far enough inside the machine that should something go wrong it would be impossible for me to get out unassisted.

Perhaps it wasn't so much claustrophobia in my case, more my total dependence on someone else to get out. I am definitely not looking to go through that experience again any time soon.

I think there are definitely things that can be done to improve the experience.

Also worth noting: I do realise that these machines come in different sizes, but they are also expensive to purchase (replace), so I am not holding my breath for regular updates at every hospital when they can add another inch to the diameter of the chamber.

Medical-tech-in-a-past-life here. I think it's more that the sicker people are, that both they have more experience with getting tests, and they're more interested in fixing the problem than feeding on the attention. Really sick people are tired of being sick - a test at a hospital is not a highlight of the day, but a drudge. It was rare, though not unknown, to see either a very sick person or a long-term sufferer make a fuss in my experience.

Someone who does make a fuss could very well be genuinely sick, but usually they hadn't really mentally accepted that fact yet.

Open standards would be awesome. I thankfully went through treatment at an integrated system so everything was just "in the system" for all of my doctors, but if I were hopping around between systems that would be extremely useful.

As far as the video thing, the only reason I can imagine is because MRIs are basically huge magnets so they have to build the whole thing out of non-ferrous materials. Plus the customary medical equipment mark up, but still that can't actually be $40k.

On the other hand, the stance I had to adopt (even though lying down) meant I had to support the weight of my arms from shoulder to wrist, and after a while this became uncomfortable and caused them to shake a bit, at which point the MRI team thought I was freaking out - which I wasn't. Maybe this was just down to bad packing and could have been avoided.

The aircon in the room had also failed so I had a combined MRI and sauna; which meant the sensor pads kept coming unstuck and so I kept 'flatlining' and had to be removed from the scanner a couple of times for more bits of surgical tape.

Do you also avoid sleeping?

To be honest, the only time I had to go through this, I was not scared about anything else than the possible result of the scan, but the noise was disturbing at best.

It's a science machine to see inside your body without cutting you up. If a theme park offered MRI rides I'd be in there all day.

The cute pictures, etc. definitely help, at least with kids. But the real improvement would be a 5-min intro to the patient, perhaps a simple video clip, explaining the technology to put them at ease. Just reading his description of the response of the technician to the child's fear, you can see that it could have been handled much better.

I do think that active noise cancellation is a brilliant tool for solving many repetitive noise issues ( I explored its use in a server room, dual purpose was, if anything was 'wrong', I could hear the room get louder as the fans lost sync with the inverse waveform. )

However given the sensitive nature of the machines, I wonder if there would be any issues caused by projecting loud inverse waves into the room the machines operate, since it would be very strange if these equipment manufacturers didn't explore the active noise cancellation technology as a way to mitigate the ear splittingly loud noise they produce.

Add to that feeling very ill and weak and having a headache. The thunks are equally likely to be experienced as a pleasant rhythmic music or cause your head to spin and make you throwup.

Things that appear trivial and insignificant can cause a great deal of discomfort for people. I actually felt anguish because of a cracked ceiling for example (you're stuck looking at it for days).

In medical school I worked with a pediatrician who had a patient brought by her mother, a foreign physician. She had told her daughter she was taking her to visit "a friend" to help reduce the time that she would worry about shots and other unpleasantries.

The physician, upon hearing her ruse, explained the ethical landscape in the United States and referred the family to a different doctor, feeling that he would never be able to restore the bond of trust that the mother had frayed.

"It's a bit scary isn't it! Look, it's a big machine! It makes lots of loud noises, and you're in a little space. But it's an adventure!" changes expectations. You're allowed to have fear and express it. But you're allowed to enjoy it too.

> Just before the whirring and banging of the machine gets louder, the operator encourages young patients to listen closely for the moment that the craft “shifts into hyper-drive.” This reframing transforms a normally terrifying “BOOM-BOOM-BOOM” sound into just another part of the adventure.

It's like dressing up as a witch for Halloween, you know; there's a lot of horrifying history if you know about it, but if you don't, it's a black cape, a pointy hat, and lots of strained cackling, and little more.