Apple Watch / Wearable tech?

[Benm]

Most medical MRI's don't "read your brain" as in what it's "doing" but just map the mechanical structure of the inside of your head (shape of skull, blood vessels, brain matter, nerves and what not).

As for claustrophobia: this might actually okay. You are not really enclosed in the machine completely, it's more like sticking your head in bucket while laying on a bed. In case you would suffer a panic attack they can slide you out in seconds, and if you really wanted to you could just force yourself out of the scanner. Most of your body actually is not in the scanning tunnel at all, your arms are typically mostly outside it.

There usually is a restraint to keep your head in a fixed position, but this is not some sort of vice that is hard to get out of - it's just there to stop subtle movements that would interfere with the scan result, getting out of it with a bit of force is entirely possible (though that'd require another scan later on).

 

[HydroSean]

Yeah I've had an MRI and it was just a big noisy donut. They will give you a warm tasty drink before you go in and then they will ask you to be completely still. If you budge a centimeter they will know so just be as relaxed as possible. Itl be over in about 20 minutes. They will also let you listen to music if you want.

 

[Benm]

Some music is nice indeed since those things are all very noisy (somewhat inherent to the technology).

As for lying 'perfectly still': noone can actually do that, nor is it required. It's important to stay still in the up-down direction (as in feet to top of your head, which is sideways during the scan, but you get the idea). The imaging software actually does 'stich' each 'slice' within some degree, which is required since patients do things like breathe and move their eyeballs.

 

[trencheel303]

That's comforting. If I can move my arms I'll probably be fine.

 

[HydroSean]

Year only the part in the donut has to be completely still, to clarify. But you will find out

 

[Benm]

Don't worry about that. You can't flap your arms around since that would result in your head moving up and down, but you can definitely move your hands or feet if you want to.

Also nothing bad will happen if you do move around too much, they'll just have to re-do (part of) the scan which is no problem with MRI as it doesn't expose you to ionizing radiation like CT/PET scans do.