Abstract #1247

Use of a 32-Channel Coil to Improve Resolution in Assessing Brain Perfusion of Newborn Infants with 3T MRI

Pia Wintermark^1,2, Josef Pfeuffer³, Michael Hamm³, Christina Triantafyllou⁴, Richard L. Robertson², Anne Hansen¹, Janet Soul⁵, Simon K. Warfield²

¹Newborn Medicine, Children Hospital Boston, Boston, MA, USA; ²Radiology, Children Hospital Boston, Boston, MA, USA; ³Siemens Medical Solutions USA Inc., Charlestown, MA, USA; ⁴Athinoula A. Martinos Imaging Center, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, Boston, MA, USA; ⁵Neurology, Children Hospital Boston, Boston, MA, USA

Studies of brain perfusion in newborns using arterial spin labeling perfusion weighted imaging magnetic resonance imaging have been limited by a low signal-to-noise ratio. In this study, a commercially available 32-channel 3T head coil was used to assess brain perfusion pattern of a normal term newborn infant. It allowed the acquisition of perfusion maps of improved resolution, with better differentiation of cortex, white matter, and basal ganglia. This should increase the accuracy of the measurements of brain perfusion in newborn infants, and enable measurements in premature newborn infants who have an even smaller brain.