How Lego MRI scanner sets are reducing anxiety in children

In September 2023, just two months after her mother fought breast cancer and won, Sam Lane began to get sick.

Sam went through several rounds of tests and the now 14-year-old was eventually diagnosed with a rare form of brain and spine cancer.

“They said, ‘Cancer,’ and before I started crying, I said, ‘Damn, I would have guessed that, but I didn’t want it to be that bad,’” Sam said.

But a nurse, out of breath and unable to walk, offered Sam a bright spot: She said she needed his help building a Lego MRI scanner set that other patients at Boston Children’s Hospital could play with and learn from.

Sam’s mother said she was “blown away” by the level of detail in the playset, which was made from custom Lego bricks.

“I remember sitting there and telling him, ‘Sammy, why don’t you take a break? You’ve been working on this for a while,'” Christina Lane said. “And he didn’t even look at me and said, ‘No, this is important… I need to help the other kids.'”

Lego’s MRI scanner sets, which include a scanner, patient bed, waiting room, staff figures and medical instruments, are specifically designed to help children learn about the procedure through hands-on play. The miniature MRI machine table moves back and forth, mimicking a real procedure.

On Monday, the toy company announced that more than 1 million children worldwide have used the sets to help them prepare for their medical procedures. The new Lego survey found that 96% of healthcare professionals say the model helps reduce children’s anxiety, and 46% report a reduced need to use sedation after children play with the set.

Radiation-free MRIs are often used in pediatric care; But because of the bright light, loud noises, and having to sit still, the machines often frighten children and prompt the need for sedation, according to Sam’s child life experts Laura Boegler and Alyssa Sachs.

They focus on ways to support the psychosocial and emotional well-being of patients and their families at Boston Children’s Hospital and say play opportunities are crucial.

“We often say that play is a universal language, and so a play-based approach based on the ability to touch and ask questions really helps alleviate the anxieties and misunderstandings that every child has,” Sachs said.

Boegler said having children play with a Lego set before their own MRI scans significantly helps reduce anxiety and increase familiarity with the procedure.

The kit Sam created is used to ease other patients’ anxiety in a way that feels unique to them.

“An MRI machine is not something kids see at school, it’s not something they talk about at home, so it’s like this new scary thing,” Boegler said. “By using the MRI Lego set, we can show kids something they feel comfortable with.”

Lego does not sell sets and has instead donated more than 10,000 sets to hospitals around the world.

Over the past few years, Lego has sought to expand its customer base and deepened its strategy to achieve positive annual growth. The company has begun to appeal more to both adults and children with more sophisticated and bespoke kits, including a wide range of sets aligned with pop culture, from “Harry Potter” to “Wicked.”

The company’s botanical and F1 racing sets, in particular, attracted new customers.

Christina Lane said the MRI playset her son created helped him bond with other children battling cancer.

“It’s really incredible to have a little Lego friend that they can identify with, who is going through the same things as them,” he said. “As a mother, as a nurse, as a human being, it is really important to be able to support our children through play during such a challenging and difficult time.”

The set even helped Sam on his own journey. Now, as he celebrates one year cancer-free, he reflected on how his relationship with machines has changed.

During his first MRI, Sam said he felt claustrophobic and scared, and that the sounds were too loud for him to understand.

But now he has a simple, reliable strategy for all MRI sessions: “I fall asleep.”