GAINESVILLE, Fla. (UPI) -- U.S. engineering students say they've designed a headset that muffles the extremely loud noises produced during magnetic resonance imaging exams.
The University of Florida students said their prototype headset reduces the repetitive, industrial-like noises that accompany MRI procedures. The noises -- often as loud as a jet engine -- can cause involuntary patient movement, blurring the image and necessitating repeat examinations, said Stephen Forguson, one of the researchers.
Forguson, Chad Dailey, Paul Norris and Christopher Ruesga designed the headset in collaboration with the Invivo Corp., a manufacturer of MRI accessories.
Although noise-canceling earphones are commercially available, they use electronics that aren't permitted within a MRI chamber. Passive systems are insufficient to combat the noise.
The newly designed headset uses existing "air phones," or headphones attached to small tubes connected to specially crafted electronics and algorithm software located outside the MRI machine. Since MRI sounds are repetitive and the piped-in sounds are timed to occur on top of the repetitions, the patients hear the same sound they would without any intervention -- but at a much lower volume.
The team is now experimenting with further improvements, said Professor Gijs Bosman, the students' faculty adviser.
Copyright 2008 by United Press International
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