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We have ordered the first Rocket Scanner for patients at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital and we expect delivery in November.

Rocket Scanners are playful, rocket-shaped MRI-simulators designed to help children overcome the fear and anxiety associated with an MRI scan.

By providing our hospitals with two Rocket Scanners, we can transform the experience of our patients – reducing distress and anxiety in the young children we care for. With your support we can ensure that thousands of children can be scanned without feeling so frightened that they need to be put to sleep.

The support for this appeal has been incredible and we can tell this project means a lot to so many of you.

Earlier this year, Gareth Adams, Chief Executive for Clinical and Scientific Services took part in a charity abseil to raise money for the scanner.

From parents of current patients, to former patients who recognise how much these scanners could have helped them in the past, you’re all helping us to make a huge difference.

MRI scans can be scary for young children

Every year, thousands of children cared for by our hospitals require an MRI scan to diagnose and monitor a wide range of medical conditions, from complex neurological disorders to routine injuries and unexplained symptoms.

Although the MRI scan is often critical, it can also be an incredibly intimidating prospect, particularly for young children, many of whom will find it difficult to stay still for prolonged periods of time.

There is no such thing as a child-sized MRI scanner, so children must enter a large scanner, designed to fit adult patients, lying on a strange-looking bed in a harshly lit environment. For many children, the unpredictable sounds of the scanner are especially distressing. MRIs are incredibly loud, sometimes reaching aircraft-level volumes, so that even when wearing appropriate hearing protection our young patients can find the onslaught of sound upsetting or even frightening.

Each year around 1,300 children we care for find the prospect so challenging, they need to be sedated for a scan, with a further 700 needing a general anaesthetic. While this approach is highly effective, it is an invasive procedure and the prospect can be equally, if not more, distressing for our young patients and their parents, who have to watch their unconscious child be wheeled away.