Physicist develops VR app to reduce children's fear, anxiety before MRI
Jonathan Ashmore is an MRI physicist with National Health Service, the United Kingdom’s public healthcare system. He doesn’t interact with patients too often, but with an office next door to radiology department, he heard the distress children experienced before, during and after an MRI exam.
In response, as detailed in a Sept. 13 article in the U.K.’s The Guardian, Ashmore developed a virtual reality app that helped children prepare for the experience—an attempt to dispel misplaced fear and calm anxieties.
“The app utilizes 360-degree videos from within an MRI scanner,” Ashmore wrote. “It’s free and allows children to experience their upcoming scan in virtual reality, helping them to understand and prepare for what is often a difficult and scary experience.”
The app, according to The Guardian, is in use in a handful of hospitals across the U.K.
Read more about Ashmore’s effort at the link below.
Nicholas joined TriMed in 2016 as the managing editor of the Chicago office. After receiving his master’s from Roosevelt University, he worked in various writing/editing roles for magazines ranging in topic from billiards to metallurgy. Currently on Chicago’s north side, Nicholas keeps busy by running, reading and talking to his two cats.