Having an MRI exam, an experience many people describe as stressful and uncomfortable, could soon become a bit more pleasant, thanks to the work of a team of University of Florida engineering students. The students have designed a headset that shows promise of reducing the extremely loud, repetitive, industrial-like noises that accompany magnetic resonance image examinations. The noises, which range from beeping to whirring to grinding and can often be as loud as a jet engine, stem from the workings of the powerful magnets at the heart of the machines’ ability to produce sharply defined internal images of the body or body parts.
