You've heard the old "CAT scanner" joke, right? Well, how about a KittenScanner?
The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Benioff Children's Hospital at Mission Bay has introduced the KittenScanner -- a scanner model from Philips Healthcare designed to make kids more comfortable around imaging technology -- into the pediatric waiting room of the radiology department.
The KittenScanner is a scale model of an imaging machine with four plush foam "patients" available to be scanned by children. The four characters -- an elephant, a chicken, a robot, and an alligator -- each have their own story, and when they're placed in the toy scanner, their charts, story, and an image of their insides are shown on an accompanying TV screen.
For instance, the elephant drank water and has a bellyache. When imaged, patients see a "scan" of the elephant's stomach with two fish inside. Each of the four plush characters can enter the imaging suite with patients when it's time for their own exams.
The KittenScanner allows pediatric patients to "scan" plush toys and learn about the imaging process. Image courtesy of Philips Healthcare.The KittenScanner teaches pediatric patients about the importance of staying still during the imaging exam, and it offers positive distraction that helps ease parents' anxiety by giving them peace of mind, according to the hospital.
The KittenScanner is part of Philips' Ambient Experience product line, which incorporates lighting, projection, and sound to provide positive distractions for patients to make their scans more tolerable.
