Peter Kochunov1, Carlos Castro2,
Gerald Schatten3, David Purdy4, Duff Davis1
1Reseach Imaging Institute, UTHSCSA,
san antonio, TX, United States; 2Ob / Gyn and Reproductive
Sciences, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, United
States; 3Pittsburgh Development Center, University of Pittsburgh
School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, United States; 4Siemens
Medical Solutions, Malvern, PA , United States
Neonates
of Old World monkeys have the longest gestational development phase among
comparably sized mammals, and as a consequence, neonatal heads approach the
size of the birthing canal. This can lead to cephalo-pelvic limitation, a
situation in which the size of the birthing canal presents a physical limit
on the size and shape of neonate during parturition. An unexpected labor
provided a rare opportunity to map deformations experienced by the neonatal
brain during these normal contractions. A deformation field analysis produced
a 3-D array of 3-D displacement vectors, showing dramatic regional
deformation of the fetal brain during normal labor.