• With a decibel level rating of up to 110, the MRI machine is a frightening prospect for any child.
• The custom audiobooks of Magnetic Stories serve as engaging distractions at this step.

The Sound of the MRI Room

In hospitals, the sound of an MRI machine is impossible to ignore. It’s loud, mechanical, and can reach levels similar to a rock concert. For a child lying still inside the cylindrical space of the scanner, the noise alone can be unsettling. Siemens Healthineers, working with CUF hospitals in Portugal, decided to address this challenge directly.

How Magnetic Stories Work

Magnetic Stories is a series of carefully crafted audiobooks designed to be played during MRI scans. Unlike generic recordings, these stories are synchronised to the exact duration of the scan. The thumps, clanks, and whirrs of the machine are woven into the storylines as intentional sound effects, so the machine’s noise becomes part of the adventure rather than a source of fear.

The process to develop Magnetic Stories involved collaboration with children’s book authors, professional narrators, sound designers, and medical teams. MRI sound sequences were recorded and analysed. These recordings were integrated into narratives that could naturally accommodate pauses, shifts, and crescendos, reflecting the actual pacing of a scan. By acquiring such knowledge of specifics, it was able to maintain the child’s attention throughout the procedure.

Market research was conducted with radiology staff and parents in order to create the stories and to understand the specific triggers of anxiety. Thereafter, these triggers were further analysed in conjunction with creative writers to ensure that the narrative themes were appropriate and entertaining for the intended age group. Incorporating actual sounds of an MRI into the storyline also gave the children a sense of what to expect during the scan, thus minimising the startle response.

Different rounds of testing with volunteer families were performed as part of the development process. Based on live feedback, story pacing and sound blending were adjusted in order to finally strike a good balance between immersion and comfort. This iterative process ensured that the project could be seamlessly integrated into real hospital workflows without either delaying or disrupting the medical procedures.

Inside the Patient Experience

On scan day, young patients wear headphones as they settle in. Instead of focusing on the intimidating hum of the equipment, they are guided through a story — perhaps a journey, an adventure, or a quest — with the machine’s sounds acting as part of the imagined world. The story ends when the scan ends, creating a sense of closure and continuity.

Parents have reported that children are calmer during the preparation phase, and radiology staff have observed less fidgeting during scans. In some cases, children have asked to hear the stories again after their appointment. While Siemens Healthineers has not released quantitative reductions in sedation rates, anecdotal feedback suggests that Magnetic Stories helps in avoiding some sedation cases in certain scenarios.

The initiative began as a pilot project at CUF, Portugal’s largest private hospital group. Feedback from radiology staff, parents, and children has been positive. Fierce Pharma Marketing shared one account of a child emerging from the scan more excited than peers who had not experienced Magnetic Stories.

Recognition and Awards

In 2025, Magnetic Stories was honoured at the D&AD Awards with a Graphite Pencil and multiple Wood Pencils in categories including Sound Design, Experience, Impact, and Entertainment. It was also recognised at the Clio Health Awards for “Creative Use of Data”, highlighting how clinical precision and storytelling can work together to improve patient experience.

These recognitions demonstrate that Magnetic Stories is valued not only in healthcare settings but also in the broader creative and design industries. The project demonstrates that addressing patient anxiety can inspire cross-organisational innovations. 

The Broader Impact

For the scan to be calm, few disturbances must be induced – risk factors interfere with the patient or simply classify patient movement. Scans may require sedation, a burden that varies between different institutions; in general, hospitals try to assist with the reduction of sedations by any means feasible. By enhancing patient engagement as an alternative to anxiety, Magnetic Stories provides a very simple method to ease the scan.

The approach demonstrates the value of patient-centred design, considering emotional and physical needs together. It shows that collaboration across disciplines can produce solutions that address real problems without adding complexity for staff.

The success of Magnetic Stories offers lessons beyond healthcare. For example, transport hubs might use soundscapes to guide passengers calmly through busy areas, or educational testing environments could introduce audio elements to reduce anxiety before exams. The principle is the same: transform a stressful moment into an engaging one by reframing sensory input.

Looking Ahead

The CUF pilot has triggered interest in extending Magnetic Stories to other hospitals and adapting the premise to varying ages. Other languages may also be considered for translation, so children in diverse regions may benefit. Interactive elements may be considered in the future to allow young patients to choose story themes before the scan.

There is a takeaway for leaders in other sectors: identify points in the customer journey where discomfort or anxiety arise and investigate how a sensory design, storytelling, or emotional connection could reshape them. Siemens Healthineers’ work with Magnetic Stories serves as prime evidence that human connection can be designed even in technical, high-stakes situations.

Where technical excellence will always be needed within healthcare, Magnetic Stories is one great example of initiatives equally emphasising patient experience. For children undergoing scans, that means leaving not only with medical results but also with a story to tell.