Chicago IL ― The Ambient Experience begins as soon as the patient arrives in the waiting room at Advocate Lutheran General Children's Hospital with the opportunity to interact with the "Philips Kitten Scan," a miniature CT scanner that is an educational resource for children from Royal Philips Electronics.
Children select a toy, place it on a miniature exam table and slide it into the Kitten Scan to learn why the toy is `sick.' Animation appears on a screen that shows children what doctors are looking for inside the toy and tells them a story about each one. The kid-sized scanner was designed by Philips to provide children with an opportunity to use a scanner themselves and learn how it works to help ease their minds about their own exam.

"The goal of the Ambient Experience CT suite is to give control of the radiology environment to young patients to alleviate their anxiety and tension," said Dr. John Anastos, D.O., chairman of the department of radiology at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital. "A CT exam requires a patient lie perfectly still, and can be very scary or intimidating to a child. About one-third of children scanned require sedation because they are unable to relax enough for a successful diagnostic exam. This can add six to eight hours of recovery time to a procedure that could be completed in 15 minutes."


This suite is designed to create a soothing environment that enables children to relax while undergoing computed tomography (CT) scans. The purpose of the design is to make children more comfortable, potentially reducing the need for sedation and repeat examinations.


Children are much more relaxed for the real CT scan after playing with the "Kitten Scan."

Ambient Experience Design

From check-in to when they leave, pediatric patients make choices over the examination environment using Philips Ambient Experience unique leading-edge design elements, sophisticated lighting and consumer-friendly electronics. In the reception area at Lutheran General Children's Hospital, young patients select cartoons and animation themes to be projected on the wall and ceiling of the examination room, accompanied by corresponding music and sounds. Specialized lighting brings a wash of color into the experience. All effects are triggered by the patient passing a radio frequency identification (RFID) card over a reader in the suite.

Dr. Anastos stressed that the Ambient Experience CT suite is a significant step in improving the quality of patient care. "When the child is relaxed and comfortable in their environment, the need for sedation or repeat exams is reduced, which helps keep a young patient's radiation doses to a minimum."

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