Immersive projection calms children during CT scans at Swedish Hospital

When a leading Swedish hospital was looking for a solution to make CT scans less stressful for its child patients and to increase the numbers of scans a day, it turned to sound and visual specialists Ljudbyrån AB for a solution with Panasonic projectors at its core.

Stockholm’s Karolinska University Hospital is one of Europe’s leading hospitals with over 1.35m patient visits a year. CT scans are used to provide vital, detailed internal images of the body. Unfortunately, often children and some adults find the process very stressful and claustrophobic, with sedation or anaesthetic sometimes required.

Lena Gordon Murkes, senior physician and the pediatric radiologist responsible for CT scanning at the pediatric hospital contacted Thomas Folland, the founder of Ljudbyrån AB, after seeing one of his interactive displays at a shopping mall. She wanted to see if a similar solution could be used to calm patients and provide a more positive experience in the CT examination room.

Thomas’ team accepted the challenge and created an interactive projection and sound solution that has had incredible results. The examination room is now equipped with two Panasonic laser projectors that beam immersive imagery onto the ceiling and CT scanner itself, alongside four speakers for sound and a touchscreen for patients to choose from one of ten different soothing effects. The immersive visual experiences range from a tropical rainforest with the sound of running water and tropical birds to extraordinary underwater scenes and popular cartoon characters.

“Many children and parents come to us at a very stressful time in their lives, with severe trauma or tumors,” explained Lena. “In these situations, we have noticed that everyone in the room is calmer with light and sound. Many patients who were previously afraid to enter the room, now do so without hesitation. Many quick examinations can be performed without anesthesia, for patients ranging from toddlers under 1 year old to adults. In cases where patients still need to be anesthetized, the visuals and sound are very helpful as a diversion when we use needles to administer the sedative.”

The immersive solution has been so successful that it has also been rolled-out to four additional CT scanning units at the hospital’s second facility at Huddinge, south of the city. Clinicians from other hospitals across Europe have also visited to see the solution in action and Norway’s University Hospital in Oslo has just deployed the solution.