by
Lisa Chamoff, Contributing Reporter | March 05, 2018
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia prepares some children with pictures of MRI scanners and audio recordings of MRI sounds.
The Siemens MRI Heroes Kit helps pediatric patients
prepare for MRI exams with a cape, plush toys,
a mini model of a Siemens MRI scanner and a comic book
“If they listen to them beforehand, it may help them not be shocked or surprised,” says Dr. Arastoo Vossough, a pediatric and adult neuroradiologist from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
Children at the hospital are evaluated by experienced staff or a child life specialist, and if it is believed they may be anxious, they may be introduced to the exam with a mock scanner. The facility has been able to cut its sedation rate by about 30 percent of patients.
“We know we’re never going to get down to zero,” Vossough says. “From late infancy to at least around 5 years of age, a lot of children will require sedation. We’re still trying to push the envelope as much as we can.”
Escape through the screen
Many facilities have technology that allows patients to watch videos while undergoing an MRI exam.
The CinemaVision system from Resonance Technology Inc.
allows patients to watch movies during an MRI exam
The Sharp and Children's MRI Center in San Diego, a partnership of Sharp Hospital, Rady Children’s Hospital and San Diego Imaging, uses the CinemaVision system from Resonance Technology Inc., which includes goggles and headphones compatible with all brands of magnets up to a 4T.
The patients choose videos to watch from a library, or can bring their own.
“We’ve had children pretty young go in with the goggles that probably wouldn’t have been able to go in without,” says Mike Frederick, the facility’s chief technologist.
Philips Healthcare offers a product called Ambient Experience, with images and movies projected on a wall of the exam room providing a distraction for patients. It can be combined with the company’s KittenScanner, a miniature version of CT or MRI scanners that allow kids to “image” toy animals and learn about their own upcoming procedure.
