TS: the hospital lobby radio station vs. the sound of an MRI

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I had an MRI done tonight, and the technician asked me what radio station I wanted to listen to while having it done. It took a little effort to convince her that I would prefer not to listen to any of them. A radio station would have interfered with enjoying the sounds of the MRI machine, plus those sounds are more appealing to me than what's on most radio stations around here. (Sure there might be a good song or two, but I can't think of one that I would want to leave on for the time it takes to get an MRI done.) At the very least, I enjoyed it a lot more than the music I had been hearing while waiting in the lobby area. The MRI sounds were pretty similar to what they were the last time I had an MRI. It starts with what sounds like an electronic version of bamboo swords slowly clashing with each other, something with a slow-motion Japanese zen samurai feel anyway. Then it gets harsher, but just momentarily. Then it goes into some sort of sustained rhythmic sound. Sometimes there are funny little temporary rhythm bites before the main thing starts.

― Rockist Scientist, Tuesday, 25 March 2003 04:14 (10 years ago) Permalink

Awesome. I was in extreme pain and mild shock when I had one done a few years ago, so I don't remember the sound. I hope whatever they were looking for w/ your MRI was OK.

Another interesting sound of an MRI:

― Mark (MarkR), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 04:41 (10 years ago) Permalink

does an MRI sound at all like MRI (rhytmogenesis edition, obv...unless a real MRI has classy strings too)?

― jess (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 05:08 (10 years ago) Permalink

jess, I've never heard MRI.

Mark, thanks, I have had some on and off back problems for a few years now. Nothing serious most of the time, but certain exercises I would like to do, and others I have been advised to do for medical reason (to strengthen the muscles on the leg where I injured a knee a couple years back), trigger lower back problems; so I want to find out if there is some serious problem there, or if I should try to find a way to work around it (more stretching, etc.).

― Rockist Scientist, Tuesday, 25 March 2003 14:31 (10 years ago) Permalink

3 years pass...

OMG, i just had my first set of MRI's ever and it was like being at my very own, very special power electronics show, what with all the noise, low-res .gifs and all.

More!

― mts (theoreticalgirl), Tuesday, 6 June 2006 23:28 (7 years ago) Permalink

loud as hell, right??

i just had a CT scan last week. they inject you w/ iodine dye if it's to image yr gastrointestinal tract. somehow you metabolize the iodine dye so you feel this insane rush of warmth through your entire body. like, WAY rushier than the morphine they were giving me at the time. the warm sensation was so strong i actually had to check myself to make sure i hadn't peed.

anyway i could hear spacemen 3's "ecstasy symphony" running through my head ... 3rd time in the past two weeks the song has come up in a weird context.

― renegade bear shot by cops on frat row (vahid), Wednesday, 7 June 2006 06:10 (7 years ago) Permalink

Think I was too busy freaking out over the possibility of having tumors in my head to listen to sounds of the various scans I've had. That warm flush from the iodine dye really is unforgettable though.

― ALLAH FROG (Mingus Dew), Wednesday, 7 June 2006 06:29 (7 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, I hate when they try to force radio on you in an MRI. RS' description of the sound is very dead-on, bamboo swords clashing!
It sucks when you have to get the "contrasts," though. I'd rather my mouth not taste like metal, thanks.

― Tripmaker (SDWitzm), Wednesday, 7 June 2006 12:59 (7 years ago) Permalink

Isn't it great? (I don't think I had the iodine though.)

― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Wednesday, 7 June 2006 13:03 (7 years ago) Permalink

6 years pass...

machine sounds like "mETAL mACHINE mUSIC" or I dunno, minimalist techno?

― Pangborn to be Wilde (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 15 August 2012 14:51 (10 months ago) Permalink

they offered to let me listen to classic rock when I had MRI. some awful Janis Joplin stuff was playing in the control room & I was like, fuck this. I'd definitely buy a Folkways Sounds of Medical Machinery album if such a thing existed.

― starfish succulents (unregistered), Wednesday, 15 August 2012 19:46 (10 months ago) Permalink

For the curious, here's the sound of a 22 minute MRI: http://www.nofearmri.com/downloads/MRI%20sounds/Whole%20Brain%20Scan.mp3

I'm not one to believe in omens, but for my first brain scan (benign pituitary tumor) I had them put on WFMU in the headphones, and the song that was playing was Buzzcocks' "Harmony in My Head."

― Hideous Lump, Thursday, 16 August 2012 04:05 (10 months ago) Permalink

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