Sea-T Scanner

High-Tech Meets Fantasy at the “Sea-T” Scanner

Children’s Scanner Room Combines High-Tech With Kid-Friendly
Kids squirm, especially when they are anxious. Squirming kids make it difficult to get a good computed tomography (CT) scan. A common practice once was to sedate kids. But as scanners became faster, children would be sedated for shorter and shorter procedures.

At Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, radiology technician Steve Jones, RN, attacked the problem by designing an environment to distract kids being scanned by the hospital’s state of-the-art 64-slice scanner.

The result is stunning. Coral reef scenes cover the walls and a mirrored ball shoots stars around the room. Mermaids perch over the scanner. Stars of the Milky Way shine on the ceiling. In the background, a CD plays sounds of waves and sea chanties.

The undersea environment isn’t the only trick Radiology uses to make tests go easier. “We’ve gotten very creative with ways to distract children,” says Manuel Meza, MD, radiologist-in-chief. Children get “special goggles” to wear during MRIs, and a child life specialist works to educate and comfort kids and families.

 “The 64-slice scanner is incredibly fast,” Dr. Meza says. “Procedures take seconds, because it processes 64 40-mm slices at one time. And the kids just love the room. We used to do anything we could to calm kids down and keep them still. Now they want to play here.”

Find out more about Children’s Hospital’s Pediatric Radiology Department.