Just as I think I know all there is to know about hospital headphones, something new appears!! Since the late 1990’s my focus has been on headphones that are specifically intended to be used before, during and after surgery. I started with headphones for surgery because of a personal experience with surgery in the mid-1990’s.

As time went on, doctors and patients were frequently proposing so many other used for my pre-loaded headphones. Dentistry, chemotherapy, hospice patients were a few of those.

Many people asked if our pre-loaded headphones  could be used in an MRI machine and the answer has always been “no” because there is a tiny bit of metal in them and that would not be allowed. MRI standsSo for “Magnetic Resonance Imaging” and the machine has a giant magnet in it. When the buzzing the clanging start (depending on what part of your body has a problem) the vibrating of your bones and organs produces a clear image of that body part. This allow the physician to understand exactly what is going on in the body. Brilliant idea!

But because our headphones have that tiny bit of metal in them, they can’t be used in the MRI machine because it would interfere.

So, last Wednesday I had to have an MRI and I was prepared to have them play music through speakers in the MRI machine. That’s what I’ve had in the past and it’s OK when the beeping and buzzing and clanging aren’t going on, but when they are, it’s impossible to hear the music. When they asked me if I’d like headphones I was flabbergasted! And the headphones that you see in the picture are what they gave me.

The machine was made by the Siemens company, and the headphones plug into a place at the foot of the MRI machine. They have absolutely no metal in them and the music comes through an airtube.  For me, the headphones were a little tight, but I guess they were trying to make them as noise cancelling as possible. The quality of the music they played, Pandora, the MRI tech said, was not good and sounded to me kind of like AM radio. There was even talking at one point which sort of broke whatever relaxation feel I might have had. Anyway, it was still an interesting and educational experience for me.

When I created the Surgical Serenity headphones, I specifically wanted cordless headphones because in surgery, there are so many cords that the anesthesiologist usually has to manage.  This way, the headphones are completely away from the surgical procedure that’s going on and our music doesn’t interfere with anything. But in an MRI machine, there are no other people around and the patient is lying in an enclosed space so the air tube doesn’t interfere with anything.

So, lesson learned. Other people have thought about using music in other medical procedures and I’m happy about that. Now, if they can think about the fact that people who composed the music that Pandora uses need to get paid too. For that to happen, hospitals and medical facilities need to purchase a healthcare facility license and not just use a personal Pandora subscription.

I don’t have any direct connection yet with these MRI headphone manufacturers but if you do please let me know in the comments because I’d love to talk to them about using my scientifically validated, therapeutic music.

To get Surgical Serenity headphones for YOUR hospital, go to www.surgicalserenitysolutions.com/hospitalheadphones.