Just sharing. Last week I had my annual MRI scan and it was in a ‘wide bore’ scanner. Had never heard of these a nd while it’s Only 10cm difference: diameter of 70 cm instead of 60 it was enough to lessen my feeling of claustrophobia. It was also shorter and the ‘tunnel’ was illuminated which all helped make the whole thing feel more ‘open’.
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Ah that sounds better @Hank_Dogs . I hadn’t heard of a wide bore scanner either. It sounds like it made a difference though, that’s great.
My last couple of MRIs were in a big adapted lorry in the hospital car park! They’ve been there a number of months now - there’s two - one doing CT scans and one doing MRI scans.
I mean if it helps cut the waiting times down I’m all for it!
There see to be a few MRI ‘innovations’ coming along. It wasn’t available where I had my wide bore scan (Paisley, Scotland) but I see that if the hospital has money to spend then the patient can choose what ‘ scenes’ to watch as they lie in the scanner. A mirror angled to the back of the scanner reflects a moving image of e.g a setting Sun, waves on a beach and other options.
I think the scan in this new wide bore machine was quicker as well. Normally a 20 minute scan of the head but I think this was 15 minutes.
I’m not sure but I think that because the tunnel is shorter your head can be partly or fully out of the scanner for spine scans.
I’m all for anything that make an MRI scan even a little easier/ more comfortable for the patient!
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