Addenbrooke’s MRI wrap creates calming environment to boost scan success rates
A new state-of-the-art MRI scanner in the MRIS department at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge has been wrapped with vinyl using a nature-based forest design, aimed at ‘bringing the outside in.’ In addition to the scanner, the walls of the scanner room have been transformed with a wrap showing images of sunlight through a forest.
The work was undertaken by Grosvenor Interiors based in Surrey and was funded by donors and supporters of Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT), the official charity for Addenbrooke’s Hospital and Rosie Hospital. Supporters raise funds to help make the hospitals better by funding cutting-edge research, innovations and high tech equipment, above and beyond what the NHS is able to provide.
ACT says this is the first MRI scanner wrap in the UK. The work has transformed the room as well as the GE HealthCare 3.0T MRI scanner, which is used as a showcase scanner by GE for other hospitals to visit, and was part of a bigger project to completely transform the MRIS department. Nature scenes now adorn the walls and corridors of the waiting area as well as the changing rooms.
MRI service manager Bruno Carmo said: “It has made a massive difference not just for the staff but for the patients too. Everybody who comes in to visit the department notices the environment immediately.”
Since the scanner went live at the end of July, the department has not seen any patients unable to go through with their scan, which Carmo says will ultimately save patients’ lives as well as thousands of pounds per patient in some cases. “One of the big reasons for patients being unable to complete a scan is claustrophobia and anxiety and just the fact that we can see the impact of this nice, calm environment already reduces the possibility of a patient having to be recalled for a second time. Ensuring a patient completes their scan first time around can literally save hundreds of pounds, thousands in some cases.”
As well as the vinyl wraps, ACT supporters funded two £30,000 audio visual systems for two of the department’s three scanners, meaning that stressed patients arriving for a scan can now listen to music and watch videos while completing their scan.
Lead R&D MRI radiographer Ilse Patterson said being able to see scan results on a first visit effectively allows diagnosis and treatment or surgery to happen sooner, helping to save patients’ lives in some cases.
Lead picture: Lead R&D MRI radiographer Ilse Patterson with managing director of Grosvenor Interiors Colin Horn.
Published on page 13 of the October 2024 issue of RAD Magazine.
