Reducing Patient Movement in MRI: A Pilot Study of a Training System

The aim of this study is to prepare children and adults for real magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) procedures using specialized training application. The software, designed to track movements and reproduce the characteristic sounds of the procedure, uses the Farneback optical flow algorithm to precisely detect even the slightest movements of participants. This allows for an assessment of the movements during an MRI scan training session in order to improve the patient's performance in real-life scanning. Our study demonstrates that simulator training improved participants' understanding of the procedure. Following the training, 40% of participants showed a decrease in the number of detected movements compared to the baseline test, and 33% of participants did not exhibit any movements in the subsequent test. These results demonstrate that the suggested training can effectively prepare patients for the MRI procedure.