Whilst conducting research for my major project on VR headsets and MRI scans, I came across a really helpful and interesting website:
https://www.medgadget.com/2021/08/virtual-reality-system-to-entertain-during-mri-scans.html
Before finding this website, I was worried that my design idea wouldn’t have been possible to create, because within an MRI scan, the user should not possess any metal on their person or elements that are magnetic, to prevent the machine from attracting the magnetic object to itself. And from experience of owning a VR headset, there are metal screws used to hold the head gear in place, causing me to research MRI scans and metal objects and at one stage, to even think about scrapping my idea. However, upon finding this webpage, it conveyed to me that it is indeed possible to create. This is good to know.
In this article, I learned that there is in fact a way of using a VR headset in an MRI machine, to distract the patient from the close environment and loud noise of their surroundings, helping them to stay calm. Possibly, in my design, I plan to use the head gear to use eye tracking for the patient to access objects in the virtual world and to paint a path in which they want to go, by simply looking at a specific location in the virtual world and it will take them to it. I have discussed this design in more depth in another blog post. Access the link below to access the post:
The whole VR idea found in the article was in fact the design idea I had in mind. I thought that this idea wasn’t invented yet, as the majority of the population have never used an MRI scan. But it seems that Dr. Kun Qian and researchers at King’s College London beat me to the idea. Nevertheless, I will research further and keep my options open to what potential route I can go down, whether it be using a VR headset in the MRI machine or an app to prepare patients for their scan.