Magnetic Resonance Imaging Biomarkers for Diagnosing Placentas with Abnormal Diffusional Exchange

出生时太小的婴儿更有可能残疾或出生后不久死亡。此外，婴儿时期的人在成年后患心脏病或糖尿病的几率也会增加。胎盘负责在怀孕期间将营养物质从母亲转移到婴儿，因此在控制生长方面发挥关键作用。各种各样的研究现在已经使我们更好地了解胎盘中的缺陷，这些缺陷可能导致婴儿生长缓慢。我们相信胎盘的知识可以帮助我们诊断在子宫内生长不良的婴儿。在这里，我们将研究磁共振成像，一种研究身体内部器官的非侵入性方法，是否可以用来检查子宫中的胎盘，并确定哪些是异常的，因此可能导致婴儿的异常生长。如果我们能够以这种方式诊断异常胎盘，从而识别婴儿生长过慢，我们将能够集中医疗护理，从而使孕妇有更大的机会生下健康的婴儿。此外，更好的诊断工具可以为治疗怀孕期间婴儿发育异常的妇女提供新的方法。我们一向透过报章访问、电台及电视台向公众解释我们的工作，并会继续这样做。曼彻斯特大学为旨在提高公众对科学的理解的各种活动提供支持，包括开放日和定期的“科学咖啡馆”会议。

Babies born too small are at much greater risk of being handicapped or of dying soon after birth. Also, people who were small babies have an increased chance of developing heart disease or diabetes as adults. The placenta is responsible for transferring nutrients from mother to baby during pregnancy and so does have a key role in controlling growth. A variety of research has now led us to better understanding of the defects in the placenta that can cause babies to grow too slowly. We believe that this knowledge of the placenta could allow us to diagnose babies who are growing poorly in the womb. Here we will investigate whether magnetic resonance imaging, a non-invasive method of studying the internal organs of the body, may be used to examine the placenta in the womb and determine which ones are abnormal and so may be causing abnormal growth of the baby. If we could diagnose abnormal placentas in this way and so identify babies growing too slowly, we will be able to focus medical care with a consequent greater chance of the pregnant woman delivering a healthy baby. Furthermore, better diagnostic tools could lead to new ways of treating the woman with an abnormally growing baby during her pregnancy. We have a strong track record of explaining our work to the public through newspaper interviews, radio and television and will continue to do this. The University of Manchester provides support for a variety of events aimed at increasing public understanding of science, including Open Days and regular `Cafe Scientifique meetings.