• Question: What does it feel like, being in a MRI scanner?

    Asked by Owl to Andy on 16 Jun 2015.
    • Photo: Andrew Scott

      Andrew Scott answered on 16 Jun 2015:

      It’s quite a narrow tunnel and you usually lie in the middle of the scanner on a bed. A mat (that we call a coil) covers the bit of the body that is being scanned or if it’s a head scan you wear a kind of helmet thing. Some people get claustrophobic, but most people are ok. It is often very noisy and you need to wear headphones. You can listen to music through the headphones and talk to the people who are doing the scan. In my department we scan hearts and for heart scans you usually need to hold your breath in short stints (10-20s).

      You don’t usually actually feel anything during an MRI scan. Very occasionally you can feel a bit warmer or you can get a slight twitch in some of your muscles, but that’s not common. I find it quite relaxing and often fall asleep in the scanner, unless I have to hold my breath.

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