Colorful animations make scary medical tests a little less scary

Imagine how a nine-year-old child with potential brain cancer might feel when he is led into an MRI machine. Imagine his reaction as a series of loud bangs echoes around him as he sits with a white plastic tube just inches away from his face. He cannot sit up, cannot wiggle, cannot move at all, or it will compromise the integrity of the test.

This is a problem that David Mathieu, founder and owner of Bear Facts Entertainment, wanted to solve, and the result of his efforts, a machine called Illuminations Motions, is currently on display at the 100th Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting at McCormick Place in Chicago, which will run from Nov. 30 to Dec. 5.

The machine uses a projector to decorate the interior and exterior of any intimidating-looking hospital machine from any manufacturer imaginable. The projector lets kids and adults pick an animated video that they think will relax or soothe them as they go through a nerveracking procedure in an unfamiliar machine.

Choosing an animation is simple; an iPad or iPhone gives patients a choice of whether they want backgrounds for men, women, boys, or girls. Included are backgrounds like colorful bubbles, a large field of grass, or even a gigantic American flag.

"Kids are very touchy, they want to be able to select something. .. they're very scared, very nervous, and it's not usually a good thing," said Mathieu.

"You kinda see a small little grin come on their face, they see it's kind of like a video game and now they're focused more on the animation than the piece of machinery, or the piece of equipment that's there."

And according to Mathieu, it works. "Cancellation rates have been down 50 percent and sedation rates have been cut by 63 percent. This is not just for the patients, but even the (Chief Financial Officers) have been saying how valuable this is."

The machine is four months old and has already been shown at multiple trade shows and installed in test sites. Mathieu emphasizes that it works with any machine and any manufacturer.