Development of Advanced Techniques for MR of the Newborn Brain

描述(由申请人提供)：最近在1.5Tesla使用MR兼容孵化器进行的研究清楚地证明了在检测和表征新生儿脑损伤方面的临床和研究价值。由于美国每年超过54万人的极高早产率以及极高的人力和经济成本，新生儿核磁共振是放射治疗领域的一项至关重要的进步。新生儿磁共振研究面临的一个主要障碍是，磁共振硬件和软件主要是为成人大脑应用开发和验证的，对于新生儿研究通常是次优的。通过拟议的生物工程合作伙伴关系，我们的目标是开发和翻译新的专门的3T磁共振成像工具，用于对早产儿和足月新生儿的大脑成熟和损伤进行非侵入性表征。我们在哈佛医学院的合作伙伴Lawrence Wald博士及同事是高通道数相控阵线圈领域的世界领先者，他们装备精良，可设计和制造用于新生儿成像的专用磁共振线圈。约翰·保利博士在斯坦福大学电气工程系的团队在射频设计、磁共振序列开发和图像重建技术方面享誉世界。加州大学旧金山分校的研究人员组成了一支在进行新生儿磁共振成像方面经验丰富的多学科团队，其中包括儿科神经放射科医生、儿科神经科医生、新生儿护士和成像生物工程师，他们拥有将基本的磁共振技术转化为可靠的临床研究工具的专业知识。通过这一生物工程伙伴关系，我们的目标是设计、实施和测试所建议的技术和工具，以改善新生儿患者的磁共振成像。这将是据我们所知的第一个新生儿MR项目，用于：1)开发专门用于早产儿和足月儿的3T多通道MR线圈；2)开发快速相控阵3T MR光谱成像技术，利用新型乳酸、谷氨酰胺和谷氨酸检测技术对已知在脑损伤中改变的细胞代谢物水平进行定量；3)开发和应用多通道高分辨率和高角扩散技术以表征脑组织微结构的发育；4)在一组早产儿中应用这些先进的MR技术来量化代谢、扩散和形态参数，以确定标准值(在结局正常的新生儿中)和偏差。 公共卫生相关性：最近在1.5Tesla使用MR Compatible孵化器进行的研究清楚地表明，对于检测和表征新生儿脑损伤具有临床和研究价值。由于美国每年超过54万人的极高早产率以及极高的人力和经济成本，新生儿核磁共振是放射治疗领域的一项至关重要的进步。通过拟议的生物工程合作伙伴关系，我们的目标是推动这项技术的发展，以创建和验证新的专门的3T磁共振成像工具，用于非侵入性地表征早产儿和足月新生儿的大脑成熟和损伤。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Recent studies at 1.5 Tesla using MR compatible incubators have clearly demonstrated clinical and research value for the detection and characterization of neonatal brain injury. With the extraordinarily high premature birth rate of over 540,000 per year in the US and its extremely high human and economic costs, neonatal MRI is a critically important advance in radiological care. A major obstacle facing neonatal MR research is that MR hardware and software have been developed and validated primarily for adult brain applications and are typically suboptimal for neonatal studies. Through the proposed bioengineering partnership, we aim to develop and translate new specialized 3T MR imaging tools for the non-invasive characterization of brain maturation and injury in premature and term newborns. Our partners at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Lawrence Wald and colleagues, are the world leaders in high channel count phased array coils and are well-equipped to design and build dedicated MR coils for neonatal imaging. Dr. John Pauly's group at Stanford University's Electrical Engineering Department is world renowned in RF design, MR sequence development and image reconstruction techniques. The UCSF investigators comprise a multidisciplinary team highly experienced in performing neonatal MR imaging including pediatric neuroradiologists, pediatric neurologists, neonatal nurses, and imaging bioengineers with expertise in translating basic MR techniques into reliable clinical research tools. Through this Bioengineering partnership, we aim to design, implement, and test the proposed techniques and tools to improve MR imaging of newborn patients. This will be the first neonatal MR project to our knowledge to: 1) develop 3T multi-channel MR coils specifically for premature and term infants, 2) develop fast phased-array 3T MR spectroscopic imaging techniques with novel lactate and glutamine & glutamate detection techniques for quantitating cellular metabolite levels that are known to be altered in brain injury, 3) develop and apply multichannel high resolution and high-angular diffusion techniques to characterize white matter microstructural development, 4) apply these advanced MR techniques in a cohort of premature newborns to quantify metabolic, diffusion, and morphological parameters to define normative values (in those with normal outcome) and the deviations in cases of brain injury. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Recent studies at 1.5 Tesla using MR compatible incubators have clearly demonstrated clinical and research value for the detection and characterization of neonatal brain injury. With the extraordinarily high premature birth rate of over 540,000 per year in the US and its extremely high human and economic costs, neonatal MRI is a critically important advance in radiological care. Through the proposed bioengineering partnership, we aim to advance this technology to create and validate new specialized 3T MR imaging tools for the non-invasive characterization of brain maturation and injury in premature and term newborns.