From the November 2021 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine

"This Xbox-style educational game is a part of pre-MR acclimation. First, the patient can explore an MR suite in an Xbox-style environment on the laptop. The patient then puts on the VR headset and lies down. The headset can measure tiny movements of the head, and the game gives feedback to the patient (and staff) about their stillness," Roger Holzberg, founder of Reimagine Well, told HCB News.

One of Reimagine Well’s Experiential Education programs, the VR-based MRI Stillness Game comprises three levels that are timed to last the duration of the scan. The aim is to fill black and white worlds with vibrant colors, which is achieved by the patient keeping still. The first level is the rainforest, followed by a balloon fiesta and then a coral reef.


As the patient holds the crosshairs in the center of the circle, their score increases and the sounds of the MR transition to those of animals. Meanwhile, the clinicians can use the patient's scores to determine if sedation is needed.

"For the hospital, when a patient is still, sequences do not need to be repeated, or MRs rescheduled," said Holzberg. "For patients, studies are suggesting that repeated sedation is harmful in young children. A strategy of preparation with experiential education has lowered the mean age of sedation at Nebraska Medicine from age ten to three."

MR scanner falls from Utah hospital killing contracted mover
An MR scanner at University of Utah Hospital was being transported in September when it fell from the fourth floor to the ground level, killing one of the workers involved in the relocation project.

A second victim sustained minor injuries in the accident.

"From myself and our team, our hearts, our prayers, our tears are with the family that has been impacted by this event," said Alison Flynn Gaffney, executive director of the hospital systems planning and service lines, according to NBC affiliate in Salt Lake City, KSL News. "We are sorry that this had happened today"

The local news outlet reported that officials said the accident happened at a loading dock just north of the School of Medicine around 11am Although few specific details have been made public, an investigation is ongoing.

Gaffney said the average MR weighs 20,000 pounds. Moving the machine, Gaffney said, was an “outside event,” involving “infrastructure and scaffolding” and “multiple safety components," according to ABC4. She added that it is unclear what caused the deadly incident.

November 2021 Magazine

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