Don’t think of a purple elephant.
You thought of a purple elephant, didn’t you? For Madison, a 16-year-old Murphysboro, Illinois, resident, something similar happened when radiology technicians told her to stand still for X-rays as she started scoliosis treatment 3 1/2 years ago at Shriners Hospitals for Children — St. Louis.
“When someone tells you to stand still, it’s really hard to stand still,” she said. “I get kind of twitchy.”
Madison is hardly alone, said radiology technician Melissa Warren, a 20-year hospital veteran. She’s had to redo many an X-ray on patients who moved at some point during the minute or so of complete stillness that is required in traditional radioography. But thanks to some new technology, many St. Louis Shriners Hospital patients are able to have X-rays taken much quicker. The machine is called EOS, and it reduces the mandated stillness to about 11 seconds. That makes Madison smile.