Which are the best headphones for excluding external sound ?

[gamba]

I had an MRI scan yesterday.

The patient is provided with headphones so that the staff can speak to the person being investigated inside the tube. Also, & much more necessary, is the other use for them in order to reduce the noise output from the scanner to the patient, which , at times is almost more than one can bear & can last for up to 40 minutes ! This for patients who are in many cases already seriously unwell. At times this is similar to standing alongside a pneumatic drill or piledriver - plus a variety of other noises, all at exteme volume.

On emerging, shaking & deaf, from the 'tube', I asked to have a look at the headphones provided for this purpose. They were pathetic. A magnificent new hospital with all the latest equiptment & all they could provide were a tatty old pair of phones with little more than the remnants of padding remaining. I was appalled & made my feelings clear. I also conveyed the same message to a more senior member of staff, that they should have them replaced.

I have a feeling that little or no action is likely to be taken, in spite of my request, so I thought I'd give them a month or so & if nothing happens will purchase a more suitable pair of ' cans ' myself, & ( if they don't cost too much ! ) present them to the department. This not for or to the NHS, but out of sympathy to others having to undergo this ' torture .' I know for sure my own wife would not survive this treatment & there must be many more even less likely to survive such an ordeal.

So, please, any suggestions for a really effective pair of ' cans.'

[umslopogaas]

You have my sympathy, gamba, I had one of those a few years ago and its not a pleasant experience. They offered me a choice of music and I opted for some Mozart, but heavy metal would have been more appropriate, Mozart was completely obliterated by the noise of the machine.

I no longer use headphones, having moved to a house sufficiently isolated that I can make as much noise as I like without upsetting anyone. However, for many years I did use them, since I lived in a tiny flat with many neighbours to upset. I still have them, Sennheiser HD 530 II. I dont suppose that model is still availably, but if there is an equivalent modern Sennheiser, I think they'd be a safe bet. These are of course corded phones, I believe there are cordless ones but I've never investigated. Also, it is possible that they wouldnt be usable in an MRI scanner, the signals might interfere with the machine (or the machine with the signals).

[Paul Sherratt]

http://www.scansound.com/index.php/m...headphone.html

[Resurrection Man]

I admire your altruism but I fear that any expenditure will not be put to good use because no metal is allowed inside the MRI scanner, I thought? Or maybe it's only certain metals...otherwise anyone with amalgam fiullings would have a problem!

EDIT: Reading the link above, I see that MRI specific headphones exist...but my point is still moot.

[MrGongGong]

I had an MRI scan yesterday.

The patient is provided with headphones so that the staff can speak to the person being investigated inside the tube. Also, & much more necessary, is the other use for them in order to reduce the noise output from the scanner to the patient, which , at times is almost more than one can bear & can last for up to 40 minutes ! This for patients who are in many cases already seriously unwell. At times this is similar to standing alongside a pneumatic drill or piledriver - plus a variety of other noises, all at exteme volume.

On emerging, shaking & deaf, from the 'tube', I asked to have a look at the headphones provided for this purpose. They were pathetic. A magnificent new hospital with all the latest equiptment & all they could provide were a tatty old pair of phones with little more than the remnants of padding remaining. I was appalled & made my feelings clear. I also conveyed the same message to a more senior member of staff, that they should have them replaced.

I have a feeling that little or no action is likely to be taken, in spite of my request, so I thought I'd give them a month or so & if nothing happens will purchase a more suitable pair of ' cans ' myself, & ( if they don't cost too much ! ) present them to the department. This not for or to the NHS, but out of sympathy to others having to undergo this ' torture .' I know for sure my own wife would not survive this treatment & there must be many more even less likely to survive such an ordeal.

So, please, any suggestions for a really effective pair of ' cans.'

having had several long sessions of MRI fairly recently I have sympathy for your plight (I had to spend an hour and a half in it on one occaision)
however apart from the Scansound ones on the link above you can't have anything metallic so these are pneumatic like the cheapo plastic ones they use
I had a long conversation with the technicians about wanting to record the sound of the scanner and basically as its a massive set of electromagnets it will kill anything you take near it !

Actually I found that I quite enjoyed listening to the sounds the scanner makes (hence wanting to record them) maybe i've spent too much time listening to esoteric Japanese noise music ?

But you have my sympathy ..............

[gamba]

Thank you all - your combined advice has been very useful. As I have already mentiond, I'll tackle the authorities in a month or so.
Ultimately, I would, as I have said, be prepared to donate a suitable pair to the department as I find it hard to live with the image of the really old & infirm being subject to such treatment. I was surprised to find a reference on google mentioning that the very latest in MRI equipment not only being much more effective but also being louder than ever before ! ( Our hospital is very new with the latest of everything ! ).



Again, my thanks.

gamba

[mercia]

my sympathies too. I think my worst experience was, having been inside for half-an-hour, the technicians realised no images were being produced and had to start again. unfortunately I believe the more powerful the machine the louder the noise but the better the images. I would prefer industrial ear-protectors as worn by airport workers or pneumatic-drill operators, with no piped music.

[MrGongGong]

my sympathies too. I think my worst experience was, having been inside for half-an-hour, the technicians realised no images were being produced and had to start again. unfortunately I believe the more powerful the machine the louder the noise but the better the images. I would prefer industrial ear-protectors as worn by airport workers or pneumatic-drill operators, with no piped music.

Sometimes you just have to "embrace the chaos" rather than self medicating with Bruckner

[Paul Sherratt]

>>with no piped music

All piped music is hell.
And then there is Classic FM ...

[Dave2002]

I have a feeling that little or no action is likely to be taken, in spite of my request, so I thought I'd give them a month or so & if nothing happens will purchase a more suitable pair of ' cans ' myself, & ( if they don't cost too much ! ) present them to the department. This not for or to the NHS, but out of sympathy to others having to undergo this ' torture .' I know for sure my own wife would not survive this treatment & there must be many more even less likely to survive such an ordeal.

Sounds grim. I doubt that I could cope, even for a few minutes. I'd want an emergency "ejector seat". I was once put in another scanner, and strapped in. I broke free! I only went back in on condition that I was not strapped, and promised to keep as still as possible, which seemingly worked. Do these things work if they anaesthetise the patient so that he/she does not experience the dicomfort and anxiety, or does the patient have to be conscious? I might just cope with a PET scanner (virtually silent and a much larger radius "tube" and not so wide) so not so constrained, and the radiation doses used are pretty small with a very short half life. Are PET scanners used nowadays?