Starting on Monday, 12 March, young patients will have a better idea of what to expect from an MRI at the University Medical Centre Groningen (UMCG) thanks to virtual reality glasses.
Because they have to lie still for a long time in a big, noisy machine, many of the 2,000 children who get an MRI at the hospital each year find the experience frightening and unpleasant. With the advent of this technology at UMCG, kids can virtually inspect the room where the MRI scanner is located and see what the machine looks like, where they will be lying, and hear the sounds the machine makes.
MRI stands for Magnetic Resonance Imaging. An MRI scan provides a precise image of bones, joints and other surrounding tissue, including muscles, tendons and cartilage. Patients lie on a bed on a tray which slides inside the machine, and the scans are made from magnetic and radio waves.
