Disney Characters Become Part of Philips MRI Environment to Improve Comfort and Support Pediatric Scan Completion

Disney Characters Become Part of Philips MRI Environment to Improve Comfort and Support Pediatric Scan Completion

(IN BRIEF) Royal Philips and The Walt Disney Company are introducing Disney stories and characters into Philips Ambient Experience for MRI, bringing a more child-friendly and emotionally supportive imaging environment to medical facilities in 87 countries. The collaboration is designed to help children feel calmer during MRI scans, reduce anxiety, and support more successful exam completion by combining Philips’ immersive lighting, sound, and visual technology with Disney’s familiar characters and storytelling. Pediatric MRI exams can be stressful because children must remain still inside a loud and unfamiliar machine, sometimes for up to 40 minutes, and anxiety can lead to delays, re-scans, aborted procedures, or sedation. Philips highlights evidence from a multi-center European study showing that Ambient Experience with Disney themes reduced post-scan stress levels by 43% among children aged 6 to 10 and cut scan pauses by 63% compared with procedures without intervention. The initiative also extends Disney’s broader commitment to children’s hospitals, including its recently fulfilled $100 million global support program, while strengthening Philips’ focus on improving pediatric care experiences through patient-centered healthcare innovation.

(PRESS RELEASE) AMSTERDAM, 29-May-2026 — /EuropaWire/ — Royal Philips and The Walt Disney Company have announced a new collaboration that brings Disney stories and characters into Philips Ambient Experience for MRI, creating a more comforting and engaging environment for children undergoing imaging exams. The Disney-themed MRI experience will be introduced in medical facilities across 87 countries, marking the first time Disney characters and storytelling will be integrated directly into Philips’ Ambient Experience platform for MRI. The initiative is designed to help young patients feel calmer during scans, reduce anxiety linked to unfamiliar clinical surroundings, and support children in remaining still long enough to complete their exams successfully.

Philips Ambient Experience for MRI combines lighting, sound, and visual elements to help patients relax before and during procedures. With the addition of Disney content, children and families can select from a wide range of familiar characters and stories, including Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Disney Princesses, Marvel superheroes, Star Wars favorites, and others. The immersive environment aims to redirect children’s attention away from the medical setting and toward a more reassuring experience built around imagination, familiarity, and emotional comfort.

“At Disney, we believe stories have the power to bring comfort and emotional connection to children and families,” said Lisa Haines, Senior Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility at The Walt Disney Company. She noted that the collaboration with Philips extends Disney’s hospital-focused work into MRI rooms by using beloved characters and storytelling to provide children with moments of comfort, escape, and reassurance during what can be an intimidating medical experience.

Atul Gupta, MD, Chief Medical Officer for Diagnosis and Treatment at Philips, said the integration of Disney stories into the MRI environment can help children feel more at ease and remain still during scans. He added that reducing stress can improve the experience for young patients and their families, while also supporting care teams in delivering efficient, high-quality imaging and helping more children receive care each day.

MRI exams can be difficult for children, particularly because they often involve entering a large unfamiliar machine, hearing loud sounds, and staying completely still for an extended period that can last up to 40 minutes. Philips noted that 66% of pediatric patients report anxiety during MRI scans, a challenge that can lead to longer procedures, repeat scans, pauses, aborted exams, or the use of sedation in some cases. These disruptions may also add pressure on clinical teams and reduce the number of patients that can be seen in a day.

Evidence from a multi-center European study involving six hospitals showed that child-friendly audiovisual interventions can help improve pediatric MRI experiences. The study found that, among children aged 6 to 10, post-scan stress levels fell by 43% compared with pre-exam levels when Ambient Experience with Disney themes was used. The same study found that pauses during scans dropped by 63% compared with procedures without intervention. Emilio J. Inarejos Clemente of the Department of Diagnostic Imaging at Sant Joan de Déu Hospital in Barcelona said the data showed that a child-friendly audiovisual intervention reduced stress and decreased scan disruptions, supporting a smoother MRI workflow.

The collaboration builds on Philips’ wider focus on making MRI exams faster, easier, and more comfortable for patients, especially children. Philips has developed several pediatric-focused solutions and initiatives, including Pediatric Coaching, Scan Buddy, and Kitten Scanners, alongside its broader work in diagnostic imaging, monitoring, echocardiology, and AI-driven healthcare technologies. Philips Ambient Experience for MRI is currently the exclusive MRI platform using the Disney themes.

Disney’s participation also extends its long-standing support for children’s hospitals and pediatric care settings worldwide. The company recently fulfilled a $100 million commitment supporting more than 1,700 children’s hospitals and pediatric places of care in 45 countries. Disney has also supported hospitals through Disney Institute training programs for thousands of staff members, access to Disney movies in hospitals, and the distribution of millions of toys, books, costumes, and other items to children in care settings. As part of this charitable commitment, Disney is providing the art and imagery for Philips Ambient Experience at no cost.

Early adopters of the Disney-themed MRI experience include pilot hospitals across Europe, along with Rady Children’s Health in Orange County and Calderdale Royal Hospital, where Philips says staff and patients are already seeing positive impact. The collaboration reflects a shared effort to make pediatric imaging less stressful, more approachable, and better aligned with the emotional needs of children and families.

Read more about Philips Ambient Experience and the newly introduced Disney-themed content at https://www.usa.philips.com/healthcare/technology/pediatric-mri-disney-and-ambient-experience.

About Royal Philips

Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people’s health and well-being through meaningful innovation. Philips’ patient- and people-centric innovation leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver personal health solutions for consumers and professional health solutions for healthcare providers and their patients in the hospital and the home.

Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, ultrasound, image-guided therapy, monitoring and enterprise informatics, as well as in personal health. Philips generated 2025 sales of EUR 18 billion and employs approximately 64,300 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at www.philips.com/newscenter.

About The Walt Disney Company

For more than 100 years, Disney stories have been a source of imagination and hope for children of all ages. Walt Disney himself brought the magic of those stories to children in hospitals, along with Disney animators and characters. Today, this legacy is reflected in Disney’s continuing support for children’s hospitals around the world, including a recently fulfilled $100 million commitment that supported more than 1,700 children’s hospitals and pediatric places of care in 45 countries around the world. This includes more than 400 hospitals that have ongoing access to first-run Disney movies; approximately 30,000 hospital staff and leaders who are trained through the Disney Institute Program; and more than 2 million toys, books, costumes, and other items distributed to children’s hospitals through Starlight Children’s Foundation.

Learn more about Disney’s commitment to delivering comfort and joy when it’s needed most at disney.com/childrenshospitals.

Media Contact:

Jayme Maniatis
Philips Global External Relations
Tel: +16178948368

SOURCE: Philips