Lost in k-space: an open-source MR-physics escape room

Operating an MR scanner for technical and clinical research requires multidisciplinary competencies beyond MR physics, including safety management and teamwork. Gamification, particularly educational escape rooms, has been associated with improved motivation, engagement and knowledge retention in health professional education.

We developed an MR-physics-themed educational escape room for the 41st Annual Meeting of the ESMRMB. Designed for teams of four with a time limit of 25 min, the room reproduced the atmosphere of an MR control room. The five puzzles covered the Larmor equation, sequence composition, MR safety and acoustical identification of MR sequences. Custom ESP32 electronics allowed the puzzles to communicate in real time with each other and with the game master.

The room ran without technical interruptions and was played by 39 teams (approximately 160 participants); 12 solved it (escape rate 31%), with a median solution time of 21 min and 53 s. Early-career researchers acted as game masters.

The escape rate aligns with comparable activities targeting scientific audiences. Difficulty can be tuned by adjusting puzzle obscurity, component availability, required prior knowledge and mental leaps. A modified version could usefully supplement mandatory MR safety training. Code, schematics, machining files and documentation are released as open source.