Pia Wintermark1,2, 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.