In Poland you can get one without doctors referal (for CT you need one because of ionizing radiation exposure), it cost between 100-200$ in normal, reputable hospital (not one like from the street view).

Nice to be on a country where these facilities are not overwhelmed

Which I wouldn’t assume based on an HN post.

Other way around, you are paying money to go to the head of the line, while the people with medical issues get it for free - but have to wait.

You can buy a plane ticket.

Sadly that's a little too far for me to pop over for a day

It isn't dangerous as long as you follow the safety protocol. This guy was very unlucky as he was wearing a weight training device made of metal, not just a watch or earring.

That's mostly true, but we're still finding new and interesting ways MRIs can kill people. E.g., non-magnetic metals are often safe, bit there was that guy who had his brain cooked as a spinal implant was the wrong length and focused the RF energy into his head. The additional protocol we developed is that objects can be certified safe for specific MRIs but not for all of them (and that being certified safe for a bigger machine doesn't say anything about safety in the presence of smaller machines).

Yes, they're pretty safe nowadays, but there's a lot of energy that gets dumped into a human body during an MRI, and I'd bet my last nickel that we haven't found every way that can cause problems.

I would prefer to have a trained professional operating my MRI scanner as opposed to someone who read the manual for 10 mins

I've seen many people make 3D prints of their own brain.

Once, I heard a story where some company was trying to get MRI test participants, and if you agreed they offered to print your brain for you as one of the perks.

Turns out, they gave everyone the same brain, like they would just always use the same file when 3D printing it. Probably had a box of pre-printed ones in the back. Dishonest, but I guess how would you ever find out?

There are providers that cater to the "I just want to know" market: https://prenuvo.com/

You can volunteer for a study. Check for flyers at your hospital asking for volunteers. (Especially psychiatric institutions - they love brain MRIs for their research.)

Yeah, hopefully someone will want to do a study on autism, adhd, trans women or all of the above