Development of Advanced Techniques for MR of the Newborn Brain

描述（由申请人提供）：最近在1.5 T下使用MR兼容培养箱进行的研究清楚地证明了新生儿脑损伤检测和表征的临床和研究价值。由于美国每年超过540，000的早产率及其极高的人力和经济成本，新生儿MRI是放射护理领域的一项至关重要的进步。新生儿MR研究面临的一个主要障碍是，MR硬件和软件已开发和验证主要用于成人大脑应用，通常是次优的新生儿研究。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业3T MR成像工具，用于早产儿和足月新生儿脑成熟和损伤的非侵入性表征。我们在哈佛医学院的合作伙伴Lawrence Wald博士及其同事是高通道数相控阵线圈领域的世界领导者，并具备设计和制造新生儿成像专用MR线圈的能力。斯坦福大学电气工程系的John Pauly博士团队在射频设计、MR序列开发和图像重建技术方面享誉世界。UCSF研究人员组成了一个多学科团队，在进行新生儿MR成像方面经验丰富，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，他们在将基本MR技术转化为可靠的临床研究工具方面具有专业知识。通过这种生物工程合作伙伴关系，我们的目标是设计，实施和测试所提出的技术和工具，以改善新生儿患者的MR成像。据我们所知，这将是第一个新生儿MR项目：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，其具有新的乳酸盐和谷氨酰胺和谷氨酸盐检测技术，用于定量已知在脑损伤中改变的细胞代谢物水平，3）开发和应用多通道高分辨率和高角度扩散技术来表征白色物质微结构发育，4）在早产儿队列中应用这些先进的MR技术来量化代谢、扩散和形态学参数来定义正常值（在具有正常结果的那些中）和在脑损伤的情况下的偏差。 公共卫生相关性：最近的研究在1.5特斯拉使用MR兼容的恒温箱已经清楚地证明了临床和研究价值的新生儿脑损伤的检测和表征。由于美国每年超过540，000的早产率及其极高的人力和经济成本，新生儿MRI是放射护理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，我们的目标是推进这项技术，以创建和验证新的专业3T MR成像工具，用于早产儿和足月新生儿脑成熟和损伤的非侵入性表征。

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.