ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A new tool is helping children understand medical procedures and feel less anxious about them. It’s called a “Kitten Scanner” and Presbyterian Healthcare Services is the only hospital in New Mexico with one.

It might not seem like much, but the mini CT scanner is helping children in New Mexico understand the different procedures they’re going through.

“The purpose is to minimize their anxiety, decrease their stress that might be affiliated with this, and just making sure that the in a playful way they actually can have a more fun experience, and again minimizing that fear that they might experience while being downstairs in the MRI or CT scan room,” said Sal Bosler, a child life program manager of Presbyterian Healthcare Services. 

So how does it work?

“There’s Ollie, Chris, and Doris — they’re different characters, whether it’s a crocodile, elephant or chicken we place them on the miniature scanner. Patients can actually manipulate the equipment in a playful way. It helps them to learn what’s going to happen to them, it helps them to teach what they need to do while they go get their procedure,” said Bosler. 

Once a child places the toy and pushes it into the scanner, a digital story pops up.

Bosler says they’ve already experienced success in the few months they’ve had the machine.

“They enjoy being here, testing out all the characters when they go get their MRI or their CT, the procedure that they’re here for. They’re so excited to try out like, ‘Oh, I’m going to hold that still as Ollie, or I’m going to sit down and do a really good job like Chris did in his video.’ So it really does help them calm down,” said Bosler. 

Children 4 to 12 typically use the machine, but it’s open to all children.

Bosler says Presbyterian is working to expand the tool in the future. The Presbyterian Healthcare Foundation donated the Kitten Scanner to the hospital.