A couple had sex inside an MRI machine - here's what researchers saw

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It sounds like something no research ethics committee would ever approve today.

A couple entered a narrow MRI scanner at a hospital in the Netherlands, tasked with having sex while the machine scanned their bodies, while researchers sat in the adjoining room waiting to observe something almost no one had ever seen before.

Not from the outside.

From the inside.

The objective was entirely scientific.

For centuries, physicians, artists, and researchers had attempted to understand how male and female reproductive organs interact inside the body during intercourse.

Leonardo da Vinci had even sketched what he believed occurred inside the body as early as the late 15th century.

Yet there was one problem.

Most drawings and physiological theories were based largely on speculation.

Then came a Dutch researcher with an idea that was simple, yet slightly audacious:

Why not simply capture it on camera?

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The Idea Started with an Image of a Singer

In the early 1990s, Dutch physician and researcher Pek van Andel was looking at an MRI scan showing the mouth and throat of a singer while she sang.

The scan offered a stunning visualization of how internal bodily structures move during an active performance.

The scan reminded him of Leonardo da Vinci’s historical anatomical drawing depicting coitus.

That sparked a sudden question in his mind:

If an MRI can be used to observe what happens inside the throat of someone singing, could it also reveal what happens inside the human body during intercourse?

Today, that might sound almost obvious.

In the early 1990s, however, it was an extraordinarily radical concept.

A Woman Named Ida and Her Partner Agreed to Do It

One of the researchers involved in the project was anthropologist Ida Sabelis.

And she wasn't content with merely sitting in the control room.

Ida and her partner, Jup, volunteered to be the very first couple to test the experiment themselves.

In the autumn of 1991, they entered an MRI machine at the university hospital in Groningen, Netherlands.

The conditions were far from romantic.

The chamber inside the scanner was only about 50 centimeters (roughly 20 inches) wide.

They had to squeeze inside together.

The scientists observed from an adjacent room.

Communication took place over an intercom.

And the couple was required to remain almost completely still while the scanner captured the images.

Ida later described the experience not as romantic, but rather as an act of love, scientific curiosity, and even a form of performance art.

The First Position Didn't Work as Planned

The researchers originally planned to scan the couple facing each other.

Yet the space inside the bore was so tight that options were severely restricted.

Ida and Jup had to figure out a position that allowed both of them to fit into the tube, maintain stability, and stay relaxed enough for the scan to succeed.

This turned out to be a far greater hurdle than the team anticipated.

An MRI scanner is anything but quiet.

It is loud.

Cramped.

Claustrophobic.

All while participants are acutely aware of a team of scientists in the next room monitoring them.

Hardly the recipe for an intimate atmosphere.

The Men Actually Struggled More Than the Women

One of the researchers' most amusing initial findings had nothing to do with anatomy.

Across several trials, the male participants struggled to maintain an erection inside the loud scanner.

The women, by contrast, were generally able to achieve arousal and reach climax as requested for the study protocol.

The researchers later noted that the primary operational challenge was the men’s difficulty "performing" under such bizarre circumstances.

Ida and Jup were an exception.

The pair were amateur street acrobats and were already accustomed to performing unusual physical feats in front of onlookers.

That experience likely helped them handle the performance pressure.

The Study Was Almost Abandoned

The initial experiment was a success, but the road to publication was anything but smooth.

The team encountered formidable technical difficulties.

Older MRI scanners required subjects to remain motionless for relatively long stretches of time.

To make matters worse, a Dutch newspaper caught wind of the experiment and published a scathing critique, questioning why valuable MRI scanners were being used to image sexual intercourse while sick patients waited weeks for diagnostic scans.

Hospital management did not appreciate the unwanted controversy.

Machine access permits were abruptly rescinded.

The research ground nearly to a complete halt.

Yet the researchers refused to abandon their quest.

And Then Came Viagra

A few years later, MRI technology advanced significantly.

Newer scanners could capture high-resolution images much faster.

Instead of requiring participants to freeze motionless for nearly a full minute, images could now be acquired in a matter of seconds.

And towards the late 1990s, another breakthrough occurred:

Viagra entered the market.

The researchers famously described the drug as an absolute godsend for the study's male volunteers.

Ultimately, they were able to conduct 13 successful imaging trials involving eight couples and three individual women.

The Headline-Grabbing Discovery

One of the central anatomical questions was remarkably straightforward:

What exact shape does the male organ take inside the body during penetration?

Centuries-old medical illustrations had depicted it almost like a straight cylinder.

Other theoretical studies suggested it curved into an "S" shape.

The MRI scans, however, revealed something entirely unexpected.

During coitus in the position examined in the study, the penis actually assumed the distinct shape of a boomerang.

The reason is that a substantial portion of the organ resides inside the pelvis and is completely hidden from external view.

The researchers discovered that approximately one-third of its total anatomical length consists of the internal root.

This meant that what is visible externally represents only a fraction of the full anatomical structure.

Even Leonardo da Vinci Got It Wrong

Roughly 500 years before this study, Leonardo da Vinci drew his renowned cross-sectional sketch of a man and woman during intercourse.

His drawing was exceptionally visionary and groundbreaking for its era.

Yet modern researchers could finally compare his sketch against what actually happens inside a living body.

They discovered that Da Vinci’s drawing was anatomically flawed.

Among other inaccuracies, Da Vinci misjudged both the curvature and the angle of the penis during penetration.

For the very first time, MRI provided imagery free from guesswork, post-mortem cadaver dissection, or theoretical modeling.

It showed living human bodies in real-time physiological action.

Fascinating Changes Were Discovered in the Female Body as Well

The researchers didn't focus solely on male anatomy.

They were equally determined to document internal changes in the female body during sexual arousal.

Participating women underwent scans across distinct stages:

Before arousal.

During arousal.

During intercourse.

And following orgasm.

The scans clearly showed that during arousal, the uterus elevates upward into the abdominal cavity.

Simultaneously, the anterior wall of the vagina elongates.

These were real-time structural shifts that science could now directly visualize and measure.

A Longstanding Medical Myth Was Debunked

For decades, a widely accepted medical hypothesis held that the uterus swells significantly in size during arousal due to increased blood engorgement.

This theory originated in part from the pioneering work of sexologists William Masters and Virginia Johnson.

However, in the MRI scans, the Dutch researchers found zero evidence that the uterus swells in volume during sexual excitation.

They suggested earlier clinical observations were misled by the uterus shifting position upward, which created an optical illusion of enlargement.

Proving the Unexplorable Could Be Explored

One might naturally ask:

So what?

Why was it necessary to have people climb into an MRI machine to have sex in the name of science?

From a scientific perspective, the breakthrough was monumental.

The study of human sexual anatomy has always been fraught with limitations.

Much of historical anatomical knowledge came from post-mortem dissections, artistic sketches, subjective patient reports, or superficial external observations.

Here, researchers were able to witness internal living structures in real time.

Without invasive surgery.

Without harmful ionizing radiation.

And at a level of structural detail far surpassing any previous technology.

Published in One of the World's Leading Medical Journals

In 1999, the findings were formally published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), one of the world's most prestigious medical publications.

The paper bore an unvarnished, direct title:

"Magnetic resonance imaging of male and female genitals during coitus and female sexual arousal."

The researchers wrote that their primary objective was to determine whether it was feasible to capture coital anatomy via MRI, and to establish whether longstanding medical dogmas were rooted in empirical fact or mere assumption.

The answer was definitive.

Yes, it is entirely feasible.

And yes, several foundational historical beliefs were simply wrong.

The Study Became One of BMJ's Most Popular Papers

In some respects, this came as no surprise.

A rigorous peer-reviewed paper documenting sexual anatomy with authentic MRI scans is not your typical clinical report on blood pressure.

Over the years, it grew into one of the most downloaded and viewed articles in the entire history of the journal.

In 2000, the research team was awarded an Ig Nobel Prize in Medicine.

These awards honor genuine scientific discoveries that "make people laugh, and then make them think."

And this study unquestionably achieved both.

The premise sounded entertaining.

Yet the findings were undeniably profound science.

Motion Pictures Were Later Created

The researchers didn't stop at static cross-sections.

Sequential rapid scans were later compiled into animated video clips showing anatomy in dynamic motion.

To the untrained eye, viewing an MRI cine loop can be bewildering.

The human form appears in abstracted shades of black, white, and gray.

It is not immediately obvious what structures are being shown.

For anatomists and clinicians, however, the footage offered an extraordinary, unprecedented window into physiological mechanisms in action.

Years Later, More Couples Agreed to Similar Experiments

Scientific interest in the subject did not end with the Dutch study.

Over subsequent decades, further studies utilized fMRI and brain mapping to explore neurological pathways during sexual arousal and climax.

Scientific television documentaries even replicated parts of the scanning setup with other volunteers.

In one notable instance, a couple named Sven and Michaela participated in filming for a BBC documentary series on the human body.

There, the focus expanded beyond pelvic anatomy to what transpires within the brain and nervous system during attraction and intimacy.

And What Really Happens in the Brain?

Sexual arousal does not unfold in isolation within a single organ.

The brain serves as the central command center of the entire experience.

When attraction is sparked, neurotransmitters flood the brain, lighting up reward pathways, attention networks, and motivational circuitry.

Dopamine surges, triggering intense feelings of pleasure and anticipation.

Heart rate spikes.

Blood flow is radically redirected.

The autonomic nervous system kicks into overdrive.

What we experience as an intimate emotional encounter is simultaneously an intricate physiological cascade.

Remembering the Study's Limitations

Despite sensational headlines, the study did not uncover the "whole universal truth about sex."

The sample size was inherently very small.

The environment inside an MRI bore bears zero resemblance to ordinary intimate life.

The cramped geometry drastically limits positioning.

Participants had to freeze during scans to avoid blurring.

And the scientists themselves acknowledged that the clinical, artificial setting could distort natural physiological responses.

Other medical researchers later observed that the observed boomerang curvature may have been partially influenced by the physical spatial constraints inside the scanner tube.

In short, the study was a fascinating milestone, but its specific geometric findings should not be interpreted as absolute universal laws applicable to every couple and posture.