EVEN for grown-ups, hospitals can be scary places.

But staff at the John Radcliffe Hospital hope a pioneering toy MRI scanner will make the process easier for some of its sickest children.

Until now, children have had to be placed under a general anaesthetic for an MRI scan, to ensure they stay absolutely still.

Scans are used to look at broken bones, head injuries and a host of other serious illnesses.

But now it is hoped the toy, which was created by manufacturer Siemens, will prepare children better for the process, meaning the heavy drugs will not be necessary.

James Chadney, from Abingdon, came up with the idea for the toy when his son, Luke, three, needed an MRI scan during cancer treatment at the Oxford Children’s Hospital.

He said: “I thought there was no way that my three-year-old boy would be able to lie completely still, on his own, inside a large, strange and noisy machine, unless he was sedated.

“Fortunately, one of the nurses on Kamran’s Ward, Jo Hall, organised a ‘play date’ at the machine the week before his scan, where he met the team and played in the machine.

“As a result, when doing his scan for real, he lay perfectly still, with no sedation.

“I thought it wouldn’t be feasible for the CT team to be constantly hosting play dates for young patients. So I suggested to the play specialists that a mini-CT or MRI model for children to play with could help prepare them and relieve any anxiety ahead of a scan.”

Play specialist Sarah Browne decided to set the ball rolling and contacted Siemens to see if the firm could help.

She said: “I was absolutely thrilled when they responded to say that they would and the model, which we have tested in the hospital, is brilliant.

“I have already used it to help prepare some really young children to have an MRI without the need for general anaesthetic.

“We use toy figures to show them how it works and the model even makes all the right sounds.

“It means that the patient can ask lots of questions about what is going to happen to them and talk about their feelings. This helps us prepare them to undergo the scan.”