Outside of the time that I spend thinking about LEGO, I work as a doctor looking after patients needing anaesthesia. Typically, this is for surgery but sometimes for other things: childbirth, correcting heart rhythms, and occasionally helping people through investigations where the environment is a little bit scary and intimidating.

One such environment is the MRI (Magnetic resonance) scanner: a relatively closed and noisy environment, some children might require an anaesthetic to help them through the experience. Such investigations are used in children to investigate problems such as brain tumors, seizures as well as other problems.

Not every child needs an anaesthetic, however. Some find that using music or videos during the scan can make it easer, but without a doubt, the greatest antidote to fear is education.

As such, I was extremely excited to hear that the LEGO Foundation, the charitable arm of the LEGO Group, are planning to donate 600 models of MRI scanners to hospitals around the world to help children to become more familiar and understand the process when they go into hospital for such investigations.

The project was initiated by chemical technician Erik Ullerlund Staehr as a passion project. More recently Senior Designer at the LEGO Group, Rok Zgalin Kobe, has been spearheading the model design and functionality adjustments of the LEGO MRI Scanner.