MRI scan

I had the experience of having an MRI today. Apparently an MRI uses a magnetic field and radio waves to take pictures inside the body. It is especially helpful to collect pictures of soft tissue such as organs and muscles that don’t show up on x-ray examinations.


I was asked to remove all metal objects, including wristwatches, keys and jewellery. I had to undress and put on a surgical gown.

The MRI machine looks like something from a sci-fi movie. I had to lie on the scanner’s bed very still with my legs and neck held in place and upright by foam triangle shapes. When I was ready the radiographer made the bed slide into the MRI cylinder.

While it is in operation, the MRI scanner makes noises such as knocks, loud bangs and clicks. I barely noticed as I was still super tired after celebrating our winning cricket premiership and actually fell asleep! The next thing I knew the radiographer was tapping on my shoulder saying, "Mr O'Loughlin. Mr O'Loughlin." Apparently he'd never had someone fall asleep in his machine before!

The scan took around 15 minutes.