Siemens Healthineers turns MRI noise into children's audiobooks — Cannes Pharma Grand Prix

MRI machines can produce sound as loud as a military jet, an intimidating experience for any patient and a frightening one for a child. For children in cancer treatment, who may need scans as often as every two months, the fear had real clinical cost: anxious kids moved during the exam, procedures ran longer, some were sedated or had to be re-scanned, and the stress reached parents and medical staff too.

Siemens Healthineers decided the fix was creative, not mechanical. Working with Area 23, an IPG Health agency, and Portuguese children's publisher Leya, the team recorded the distinctive audio signatures of common pediatric MRI sequences and built stories around them — the machine's rhythmic thumps, bangs and beeps became trains, robots and spaceships in a plot. The audiobooks were synchronized with the actual scan sequences and played through MRI-safe headphones during real exams, piloted at a CUF hospital unit in Lisbon.

The effect was measured in behavior as much as awards. Children who returned for scans every two months started looking forward to hearing the next chapter, and parents and staff reported calmer sessions and less reliance on anesthesia. The stories outgrew the hospital: they were sold on Kobo through LeYa, and the campaign won the Grand Prix in the Pharma category at Cannes Lions 2024, later collecting further honors including Clio awards and the 2024 Purpose-Led Campaign of the Year at the Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards.