Virtual Reality

Virtual reality has been explored as an MRI anxiety intervention since the mid-2000s, with considerable improvements to the technology since then. The idea of giving patients something else to look at was the premise of an early case study investigating virtual reality as an intervention. This study included two known claustrophobic participants and tested the effectiveness of using virtual reality versus music in order to reduce anxiety in a mock MRI examination91. The patient with virtual reality as an intervention was able to complete the ten (10) minute mock exam, whereas the patient only hearing music was not91.

The University of Michigan had a different take of using virtual reality to help anxious MRI patients. Instead of taking the patient to different places, they created an app to bring the patient into a virtual MRI scanning room, complete with the sounds they may hear while undergoing a scan. This virtual reality approach is an example of desensitization, which is a psychological technique involving gradual exposure to triggers that would cause the patient’s anxiety such as MRI claustrophobia. This is a good approach as loud sounds and not knowing what to expect are in the top three stimuli that cause patients’ anxiety92.