Empowering children: Siemens Healthineers develops approach to prepare younger patients for imaging examinations

• Approach aims to support children – from preparation right through to examination 
• One in ten radiological examinations involves a child, often requiring sedation¹ 
• Concept based on user experience aims to alleviate children's fears about the examination

Siemens Healthineers has developed a holistic approach to prepare children and their parents for imaging examinations and to improve the patient experience. Several materials featuring Gerda, the Brave Giraffe have been developed in collaboration with children from the target age group of four to nine years old. Gerda has her own Magic Song, and she also appears in audiobooks and books about the different types of examination: computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and fluoroscopy. A small scanner Minitom Kids, which is designed as a learning simulator, also lets children examine their stuffed animals and find out how an imaging examination works and why it is important for clinical staff to be able to look inside their bodies. 

Domnica Calin, a radiologist at Scanexpert, a private radiology clinic in Chisinau, Moldova, has firmly integrated the Gerda book into her routine with children: "We have managed to significantly reduce scan times and motion artifacts for our young patients," she explains. "We have also achieved a high success rate in avoiding sedation. Using the book builds confidence, and this has made patients more cooperative as well as calmer, which in turn improves the quality of scans." 

In radiology, around one in ten examinations involves a child. Younger patients in particular often have to be sedated before imaging can begin. Fear of the examination and the bore, the opening of the system, during computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging means that younger children are rarely able to lie still. However, this is crucial for good image quality and accurate diagnosis. Examinations that have to be repeated can also disrupt workflows and lead to even more stress for those affected, as well as causing longer waiting times for other children. 

To help children and their parents prepare for the examination, Siemens Healthineers has developed a holistic concept that focuses on understanding the needs of young patients right from the start. 

"Children are not small adults," explains Alexandra Zahn, Senior Key Expert at Siemens Healthineers. "When developing our concept, we felt that it was particularly important to get in touch with our target group and all stakeholders – parents, children, radiologists, play therapists and radiology technologists." In co-creation workshops, Siemens Healthineers designers and researchers worked together with different groups of children aged four to nine to better understand their patient journey and recognize where there is potential for child-friendly improvement. As Zahn explains: "Children's needs have to be considered not only during the examination, but instead much earlier," – namely, when taking a close look at all the steps before and during the examination. The aim was to help the children understand that the examination is not something that will simply happen to them, but rather that they can prepare for it in a very focused way. 

In addition to diagnostic examinations, preparation for any necessary treatment also plays a role and must be taken into consideration: Varian, the Siemens Healthineers business that specializes in cancer therapy, is therefore working on a learning simulator for radiation therapy, among other things, to help alleviate children's fears in this context as well. TinyBeam was showcased for the first time at this year’s ASTRO (American Society for Radiation Oncology) congress. 

The learning simulator for radiology, Minitom Kids, is already in use: the training model assembled by the Siemens Healthineers trainees in Kemnath, Germany, recently had its world premiere at the pediatric radiology department of the University of Freiburg's Medical Center, where it will empower children as they prepare for imaging examinations.