Jean A. Tkach1,
Stephanie L. Merhar2, Beth M. Kline-Fath1, Ronald G.
Pratt1, Wolfgang Loew1, Barret R. Daniels1,
Randy O. Giaquinto1, Mantosh S. Rattan1, Blaise V.
Jones1, Michael D. Taylor3, Janice M. Tiefermann1,
Lisa M. Tully1, E. Colleen Murph-Eigel4, Rachel N.
Wolf-Severs1, Angela A. LaRuffa5, Charles L. Dumoulin6
1Radiology,
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, United States;
2Neonatology and Pulmonary Biology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital
Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, United States; 3The Heart
Institute, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH,
United States; 4Translational Research Trials Office, Cincinnati
Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, United States; 5Newborn
Intensive Care Unit, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center,
Cincinnati, OH, United States; 6Radiology, Cincinnati Children's
Hospital, Cincinnati, OH, United States
We have successfully developed a small footprint 1.5T MR system for imaging neonates within our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). The safety and image quality of the system were evaluated in this study. Standard clinical protocols were used to perform MRI exams of the brain, chest and abdomen in 15 neonates. Image quality was evaluated by two board certified radiologists. All exams were successfully completed. High quality diagnostic images were obtained at each anatomic location demonstrating the systems feasibility, safety and potential benefit to neonatal medicine by providing state of the art MRI capabilities within the NICU.
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