Georgia Lockwood Estrin1,
2, Zhiqing Wu2, Serena J. Counsell3, Mary A.
Rutherford1, Joseph V. Hajnal2
1Perinatal
Imaging, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom; 2Centre
for the Developing Brain, Kings College London, London, United Kingdom; 3Centre
for the Developing Brain, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
Fetal DTI offers the potential to provide detailed information on normal white matter development. A major limitation is movement, which is often not addressed in fetal MR studies. This study employs a fully motion corrected reconstruction method including distortion correction using a measured B0 field map to measure fractional anisotropy (FA) in 19 fetuses. Results were compared with ex utero preterm FA data of similar post-menstrual ages. The fetal FA values were consistent with the preterm neonates, including trends with age. This provides confidence that the method is reliable and offers the opportunity to study white matter development in utero.
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