MRI model reaches 10,000 supporters

MRI lead radiographer Apollo Exconde at Guildford Diagnostic Imaging – Alliance Medical, Royal Surrey County Hospital, has thanked RAD Magazine readers for their support of his LEGO Ideas Open MRI project, in which he submitted a design for a model made of the famous building bricks. He hopes playing with the model of the MRI system will help children or anxious patients understand the procedure they are about to undergo.

“I would like to thank you, the readers, for the support you have given me since I launched this project in November 2018. It achieved 10,000 supporters in October – the best gift I can offer to radiography and just in time for World Radiography Day 2020. The idea will now enter the review stage next year and may be approved for mass production or be kept on file for the future. Whether approved or not, this model paved the way for raising awareness about our field in a fun way,” said Exconde.

The review process can take several months and the LEGO team then make a ‘go/no go’ decision on whether to develop and sell a product based on the Open MRI design. If approved the project will go into the longest phase of the project, the development phase, in which LEGO model designers refine the product and develop it for release.

Published on page 14 of the December 2020 issue of RAD Magazine.