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How do MRI Headphones work? (2022)

tomlingham.com

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Re: How do MRI Headphones work? (2022)

#81
post #9

I thought these were a nice idea when I had my MRI the other day, little did I know that I would barely be able to hear anything over the noise of the MRI machine. Ear plugs were better, kept out the noise of the MRI machine and let me drift into a trance.

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…

I get an MRI Brain every three months. I usually opt out of the piped music - mostly because it's either a bad choice by the radiology techs or tuned to a generically awful radio station - but the headphones lock into the head cradle so I use them with earplugs underneath. I close my eyes and tune out and try to not sleep (and twitch so they have to restart the capture).

Some of the pulse sequences are rhythmic and I find the entire thing somewhat meditative, but there are many other places I'd rather be.

Re: How do MRI Headphones work? (2022)

#82

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.

It would be a real shame if EMF could propagate.

As long as it's slowly maybe you can catch it.

It it was at the speed of light we might have a problem.

Re: How do MRI Headphones work? (2022)

#83
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

MRI can cause a tingling sensation. Apparently, it can be quite noticeable when you make a loop, e.g. with your arms. See peripheral nerve stimulation.

make a loop? wouldn't that require breaking the cardinal rule of not moving during the scan?

For my knee scans I could move into a position that was comfortable for me which actually I think was arms folded across my abdomen, but then you just do not move while the imaging is happening, which will have a distinct sound.

Re: How do MRI Headphones work? (2022)

#84
post #25

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…

When I had an MRI a few years ago, my conclusion about the sound was "add a melody on top of that rhythm, and it would go over quite well in an underground industrial music club in an abandoned warehouse outside of Berlin." I haven't looked to see if anyone has actually tried to make music with the sound or not.

[deleted]

Re: How do MRI Headphones work? (2022)

#85

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.

> Apparently enough people think electromagnetic radiation in the ears is a problem Even Andrew Huberman, one of the most popular health science podcasters, has dabbled into anti-EMF quackery. On one podcast he claimed that his Bluetooth headphones produced notable "heat effects", implying that the electromagnetic energy was enough to produce palpable heat in his body. It's obviously placebo effect to the extreme (ph…

What are the recent revelations you’re referring to?

Re: How do MRI Headphones work? (2022)

#86
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's

I was still encountering them in the early '90s, although by that time they had become uncommon.

Re: How do MRI Headphones work? (2022)

#87
post #74

>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.

The only passenger aircraft I've ever encountered this on in 39 years of flying regularly were domestic US flights up until ~2000 or so. To the point where it's still a story I tell about the ridiculous levels of penny-pinching of US airlines (United wanted $5 to rent a plastic tube to let you listen to the inflight entertainment, with no way to plug in your own).

It was united that I most recently encountered this too. It was 2005ish and they flew a 747 with pull down theatre screens and pneumatic headphones on an australia-us flight.

Not sure if that was the backup plane or they were just desperately holding out to upgrade the fleet.

Having said that anyone that flew just over 30 years ago would have likely used pneumatic headphones and watched on a shared pulled down theatre screen. It was the norm not that long ago.

Re: How do MRI Headphones work? (2022)

#88
post #34
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FILO is not the standard method of maintaining one's stock of clothes? How else does a person mange wear leveling?

You shouldn't. If you successfully manage wear leveling all you've done is make sure you have to replace your whole stock at the same time, as well as depriving yourself of regular reminders of what new-ish clothes should look and feel like, leading you to keep wearing worn-out clothes.

> If you successfully manage wear leveling all you've done is make sure you have to replace your whole stock at the same time

I've been doing this for decades, but have never encountered this problem. I think because of a combination of the fact that I didn't buy my entire wardrobe all at once to begin with and that different clothes wear at different rates.

Re: How do MRI Headphones work? (2022)

#89

>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 recall those being the standard for publci headphones everywhere, on planes, busses and hospitals

Re: How do MRI Headphones work? (2022)

#90
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only passenger aircraft I've ever encountered this on in 39 years of flying regularly were domestic US flights up until ~2000 or so. To the point where it's still a story I tell about the ridiculous levels of penny-pinching of US airlines (United wanted $5 to rent a plastic tube to let you listen to the inflight entertainment, with no way to plug in your own).

It was united that I most recently encountered this too. It was 2005ish and they flew a 747 with pull down theatre screens and pneumatic headphones on an australia-us flight. Not sure if that was the backup plane or they were just desperately holding out to upgrade the fleet. Having said that anyone that flew just over 30 years ago would have likely used pneumatic headphones and watched on a shared pulled down theatr…

Shared screens was the norm in Europe too, but pneumatic headphones is something I've never seen on a European carrier at all - not at all ruling out some might use them, after all, there are many of them and I've by no means flown them all. I wonder, though if it's another case of tech that may have been skipped by airlines that e.g. didn't add inflight entertainment as early as others and so got to "skip ahead" a generation. Most of the European airlines I'd have flown with while younger would have predominantly flown short-haul flight where inflight entertainment might have not been a priority until fairly recently.
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