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How do MRI Headphones work? (2022)

tomlingham.com

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Re: How do MRI Headphones work? (2022)

#111
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently got an MRI and the technician asked me what I wanted to listen to on the headphones. I said "Something relaxing, do you have ambient music?". This turned out to be a terrible choice; the music was so quiet I could barely hear it. Earplugs would have been better. I had some in my pocket that I brought but it was too late. So after the claustrophobic panic subsided and I realized I was left in there with not…

You're not alone. The "music" combined with the visual sensory deprevation can be a trip. Some machines are completely featureless on the inside and I've found it can feel like I'm floating in a bit open space, not crammed into a magnetic tube!

The strong field can induce vertigo as well, it's pretty weird. You don't even need to be in the scanner- the field itself causes it by mucking with your inner ear.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4362897

Re: How do MRI Headphones work? (2022)

#113
post #100
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My process: 1. Buy ~15 copies of everything. 2. Not think about what to wear! Everything is roughly the same. 3. Throw out everything every ~3 years. A couple of months before that, start buying new models of clothes to find the best one. 4. Goto 1.

> A couple of months before that, start buying new models of clothes to find the best one. This is so important. You'd think that manufacturers would just keep the same stuff for sale all the time for all time but it doesn't work that way. Lands End comes close for button shirts and wool trousers, but that formality level is wasteful for work from home. Edit: At first the 15 copies seemed excessive since only 7 are n…

Yeah, I'm absolutely pissed that New Balance had stopped making my favorite model of sneakers. I bought the last 5 pairs of them from a seller on eBay. Like, a model is great and it sells well, why would you stop making it?!?

> Edit: At first the 15 copies seemed excessive since only 7 are needed for weekly laundry, but basically you can get 2x longevity out of the stock based on laundry wear.

1 week of clothes does not provide enough safety buffer for forgetfulness and procrastination. Also, travelling.

Re: How do MRI Headphones work? (2022)

#114
post #37

>The only headphone tech that I was aware of or that I'd ever really considered I guess I'm old now because this style of headphone was present on every model of passenger aircraft in the sky when I was a young adult.

I've never heard this before! When I started flying it was just the 2 mono jacks that you still see on planes that haven't been updated (always wondered why it wasn't just a stereo jack) Pretty surprising to hear there's air/sound tubes rigged on to every seat on a plane. Seems like the sound tubes ended in the 70's: https://apex.aero/articles/sound-tube-surprising-history-air...

> Seems like the sound tubes ended in the 70

I'm 40-ish, and I remember them as a child, so they were definitely still kicking around in the mid to late 80s, most likely on KLM and Pan Am, that were the airlines of my childhood.

Re: How do MRI Headphones work? (2022)

#115
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never heard this before! When I started flying it was just the 2 mono jacks that you still see on planes that haven't been updated (always wondered why it wasn't just a stereo jack) Pretty surprising to hear there's air/sound tubes rigged on to every seat on a plane. Seems like the sound tubes ended in the 70's: https://apex.aero/articles/sound-tube-surprising-history-air...

> Seems like the sound tubes ended in the 70 I'm 40-ish, and I remember them as a child, so they were definitely still kicking around in the mid to late 80s, most likely on KLM and Pan Am, that were the airlines of my childhood.

They definitely were still a thing into the 90s

Re: How do MRI Headphones work? (2022)

#117

>The only headphone tech that I was aware of or that I'd ever really considered I guess I'm old now because this style of headphone was present on every model of passenger aircraft in the sky when I was a young adult.

Does anyone know why old aeroplanes used the plastic tube style of headphones, instead of copper wired? From the blog post, it makes very good sense why the MRI headphones are necessary in that setting.

Edit:

From this URL: https://avidproducts.com/2023/12/08/celebrating-70-years-of-...

This type of headphones are called pneumatic headphones.

Re: How do MRI Headphones work? (2022)

#118

>The only headphone tech that I was aware of or that I'd ever really considered I guess I'm old now because this style of headphone was present on every model of passenger aircraft in the sky when I was a young adult.

When I was a kid, I once brought a stethoscope with me on the airplane so that I could watch the movie for free. (Or rather listen to it.) I pulled off the heart-listening cup part of the stethoscope and inserted beverage straws into the rubber tubing. Then I put one straw into each of the two little holes in the armrest. It worked perfectly! Until a stewardess caught me and made me stop.

Sounds ingenious but I don’t quite follow the story. Why would a stewardess make you stop? Was there some system where you had to pay for headphones separately to hear a movie? I’m pretty sure all I remember are headrests having standard 1/8” audio jacks.

Re: How do MRI Headphones work? (2022)

#119

I was intrigued to see a lady at the crosswalk the other day wearing earbuds with thick tubing instead of wires. Googling it, I discovered they were "EMF free headphones". Apparently enough people think electromagnetic radiation in the ears is a problem that there are now dozens of these headphones on the market that put the driver half way along the cord, with tubes proceeding to the earpiece.

Despite the questionable goals of the consumer, I have to credit hollow-tube technology as at least a reasonably non-fraudulent attempt to satisfy them.

In contrast, consider the glut of products involving magic nonsense about hematite beads or whatever.

Re: How do MRI Headphones work? (2022)

#120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I was a kid, I once brought a stethoscope with me on the airplane so that I could watch the movie for free. (Or rather listen to it.) I pulled off the heart-listening cup part of the stethoscope and inserted beverage straws into the rubber tubing. Then I put one straw into each of the two little holes in the armrest. It worked perfectly! Until a stewardess caught me and made me stop.

Sounds ingenious but I don’t quite follow the story. Why would a stewardess make you stop? Was there some system where you had to pay for headphones separately to hear a movie? I’m pretty sure all I remember are headrests having standard 1/8” audio jacks.

Yes, they would charge for headphones to watch the movie. The movie (there was only one, or maybe two on a long international flight) was played on CRT monitors mounted on the ceiling of each cabin section.

That was 20+ years ago, before flat panel screens in every headrest that could tune into one of a couple dozen looping channels, and long, long before you could watch anything at any time from a huge library.

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