An MR exam is rarely anyone’s idea of comfort. The loud, narrow bore. The need to lie perfectly still. For children, claustrophobic patients, and even first-timers, anxiety often overshadows the clinical purpose of the visit. What should be a routine diagnostic procedure can instead feel overwhelming; an intimidating mix of noise, confinement, and vulnerability.

For many patients, the unease begins long before the exam starts. Walking into a stark, humming room filled with wires and machinery can be jarring. Parents often describe their children clinging to them in fear. Adults, too, can feel powerless when faced with the starkness of the imaging environment. Even the anticipation of lying inside the bore, where every sound is amplified and every movement must be restrained, can trigger a stress response that undermines cooperation and prolongs the scan.

Clinicians have long recognized this challenge. High patient anxiety often leads to motion artifacts, repeat scans, and in pediatric cases, the need for sedation. But creative solutions are reframing the conversation, moving imaging design away from sterile necessity toward environments that actively support healing and comfort. Spaces where patient experience and image quality work hand in hand.
Reimagining the MR suite
Thanks to his background in advertising, Character Farms cofounder Mark Sullivan knows what motivates — and repels — people. Kids, he says, can tell within seconds whether a space feels “spooky” or welcoming. For him and cofounder Ernie Pacheco, bringing positive vibes to the MR suite is the prime directive.

“When kids see machines and wires, they tense up,” Sullivan explains. “But if they see a story, a place, they relax.” The Dallas-based company transforms exam rooms into jungles, castles, and beaches, using an approach rooted in immersion, not decoration. Cabinets and walls are disguised to fit the theme, lighting shifts to match the mood, and the MR itself can be concealed in a removable 3D façade — think a submarine, treehouse, or rocket ship.

“The more we can camouflage, the more we can hide the sterility of the equipment and what’s actually in that room, the more everybody benefits,” Sullivan says.

Character Farms is also developing a decal-based system to update older MR machines without the need for costly room overhauls. Sullivan notes that the prototype is far more cost-effective than redesigning an entire suite from scratch. Unlike the traditional approach, prepping a room before a new device arrives, this system can be applied to machines already in use and moved aside easily for maintenance.

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