Source: Reddit user bretstar [1]

Why, oh why, is this beautiful baby squished into a tube?!

Your first thought upon stumbling onto this photo might very well be, "This has to be a photoshop joke . . . " But it's not a joke at all — this baby is sitting in a very real contraption called a Pigg-O-Stat [2], and it leaves a lot of room for questions about life, the world, and everything we have come to understand about modern medicine.

The Pigg-O-Stat is an X-ray machine for babies, designed to position and hold infants during the scan without significant complications and to attempt getting a clear image the first time, resulting in less exposure to radiation.

Although the idea is kind of genius, the photo, which was submitted on Reddit [3], has elicited a lot of confused — and hilarious — comments. Our favorites: "It looks like that baby is about to be sent through the tubes at the bank drive through," and, "Augustus Gloop: The Early Years," a casual Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory [4] reference.

Source: Paramount Pictures [5]

So what do you think about the Pigg-O-Stat? Would you let your baby in one?

This post was originally published on June, 22, 2015.