What will happen
if my child is called in for an fMRI?
If your child is eligible for the fMRI portion of the study you
will receive a phone call to schedule an appointment to come back
to New Haven, to the Anlyan Center in the heart of Yale’s
Medical School. Our current time slots for scans are Mondays from
3:15-5pm and Thursdays from 2:15-4pm. It is important that you understand
that these scan time slots are purchased on our grant. We do have
limited resources to pay for slots and they are very expensive.
It is crucial that you arrive on time for your child’s scan.
If you are unable to come to a scheduled scan time we ask that you
give us at least five days notice to attempt to schedule another
child so we do not lose money. Directions to the MRI center will
be mailed to you when we schedule a date for your child to come
in.
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One of our staff will meet you and your child in the courtyard
in front of the building and escort you into the MRI center. In
the waiting room we will ask you to fill out an MRI safety sheet
about your child. We will ask your child to use the restroom before
they go into the scanner and to remove all metal before we leave
the waiting room. Parents are not allowed into the scanning room
and must remain in the waiting room. The building is secure and
if you leave you must be escorted back in by a security guard from
the front desk.
They will lie down on a table and have an open helmet with a mirror
attached to it put on their head. This is so that they will be able
to see a screen set up at their feet with the words on it while
lying on their back.
Your child will then be moved about half way into the scanner so
that their head lines up with the middle of the scanning tube. For
the first few scans your child will not be asked to do anything
EXCEPT HOLD STILL.Then the words games will begin!
The scanner is operated by the technician and the word games your
child will be playing while in the scanner are run by the reading
center’s researcher. Your child will be able to communicate
with us in between the individual scans by means of an intercom
system. Your child’s comfort is very important to us and we
do the best we can to ensure they remain comfortable throughout
the duration of the scan.
The most important rule for your child to understand the day they
come in for the scan is that they CANNOT move at all once the technician
begins setting them up on the table. Movement greater than 2 millimeters
in any direction throughout the scan makes your child’s data
unusable. If you feel your child may not be able to understand that
or would need a “test run” in a scanner before the real
scan please let us know and we will set up an additional time for
your child to come in and go into the MRI center’s mock scanner
where we can try and ease your child’s fears. If you have
any questions, please ask one of the Reading Center’s research
staff.
Functional
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) Safety Information
Other Links:
http://mri.med.yale.edu/MRRC_Facilities.htm
(the MRI Center at Yale,
where all of our fMRI scanning takes place under the direction of
trained and certified technicians.)
http://www.maxandbuddy.com
(a site for children with a wonderful short
cartoon video explaining the MRI process)
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