Clinical Use of a New Neonatal MRI System

The current practice of transferring infants from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) to radiology departments and imaging in adult-sized magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners is associated with significant safety and image quality issues. For these reasons, the smallest and/or sickest neonates are typically precluded from receiving an MRI exam. The overreaching goal of our research effort is to bring high-performance MRI into the NICU so that all neonates can benefit from the same quality of diagnostic imaging as adults. To accomplish this, we have converted a commercial small-bore 1.5 Tesla (T) MRI scanner designed for orthopedic use into a neonatal MRI system optimized for whole body imaging of neonates. To expand the imaging capabilities of the NICU MRI system, the measurement control electronics and operating system software of the FDA cleared imaging OPTIMA platform have been augmented with state of the art HDX electronics and software currently used on a conventional commercially available adult sized whole body MRI scanner. The clinical safety of the integrated HDX/OPTIMA NICU MRI system and its ability to produce diagnostic image quality has been shown in 15 pilot patients (CCHMC Protocol 2011-2045). The present protocol builds and expands upon the previous to use the integrated NICU MRI system to perform MRI exams in the neonatal population.