Health-Tech Innovation 2025 – MM+M Awards

Gold

Siemens Healthineers and Area 23   
Magnetic Stories

While MRI scans have been improving healthcare since the 1970s, the experience remains cold, painfully loud and especially frightening for children. Knowing that 85% of kids 12 and older fear MRIs, Siemens Healthineers set out to change that.

With Magnetic Stories, the team reimagined how hospitals, radiologists, parents and children interact with the MRI. Instead of a scary machine, it became a gateway to wonder — allowing pediatric patients to immerse themselves in original stories tailored to the rhythms of the scan.

The clanging and whirring of the machine, while disorienting, is also highly predictable. The team captured the sound sequences of common pediatric MRIs (cranial, liver, spine, ears) and enlisted renowned authors and sound designers to create audiobooks that sync precisely with each part of the scan. A fast spin echo beeping became a robot’s chatter. The helium recondenser’s steady pulse turned into a flying train.

With a modest $15,000 budget, Magnetic Stories made the MRI experience more manageable — and even delightful — for children undergoing frequent scans. It also helped Siemens Healthineers stand out in a competitive category, offering hospitals a differentiator that provided emotional as well as clinical value.

The campaign’s resonance extended beyond the hospital. Partnering publisher Leya now sells the audiobooks to all children via its online store. A story that began as a tool to ease fear for young cancer patients proved to be something more: a truly good story, one that any child, anywhere, would want to hear.

Silver

Treace Medical Concepts, Dovetail and 21Grams 
Comeback Kicks

Recovery from bunion surgery normally requires weeks in a cumbersome boot, a single-use product that then spends centuries in a landfill. This novel product is made using 3D printing based on the post-surgery foot. The cushy foam shoes are more comfortable and eliminate gait imbalances. When the healing is done, they can be recycled or kept. Comeback Kicks started in one clinic with 500 boots per year. With 4 million recovery boots now sold yearly, Comeback Kicks could reduce global CO2 emissions by 940 million kg, bringing the category in line with global emission standards.

Click here to view other winners of the 2025 MM+M Awards.