Ahmed Serag1, Paul Aljabar1,
Gareth Ball2, Serena J. Counsell2, James P. Boardman2,3,
Daniel Rueckert1, Jo V. Hajnal2
1Department of Computing,
Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom; 2Imaging Sciences
Department, MRC Institute of Clinical Sciences, Imperial College London, London,
United Kingdom; 3Simpson Centre for Reproductive Health, Royal
Infirmary of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Preterm birth is associated with abnormal brain development and long-term neurodevelopmental impairment. Quantitative magnetic resonance (MR) studies of preterm brain injury have focused on morphological features such as shape and volume and on measures of tissue microstructure obtained from diffusion tensor imaging. In this work, we focus on longitudinal changes in signal intensity, which can offer a useful marker for mapping developmental changes. The study shows that signal change analysis on a large cohort is feasible, and it can serve as a marker for developmental brain changes, both normal and abnormal, which might ultimately lead to a better understanding of the trajectory of early brain maturation.
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