Abstract #1067

Altered brain tissue stiffness in pediatric cerebral palsy measured with magnetic resonance elastography

Charlotte A Chaze¹, Daniel R Smith¹, Grace McIlvain¹, Gabrielle Villermaux², Nicole Maguire¹, Freeman Miller³, Jeremy R Crenshaw⁴, and Curtis L Johnson^1,2

¹Biomedical Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States, ²Psychological and Brain Studies, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States, ³Orthopedics, Nemours Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, DE, United States, ⁴Department of Kinesiology and Applied Physiology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States

Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) measures the viscoelastic mechanical properties of tissues, which vary extensively between normal and disease states. In this study, we hypothesized that the mechanical integrity of brain tissue is reduced in children with cerebral palsy (CP). Through MRE, we found the stiffness of the cerebrum in children with CP ages 5-12 is significantly lower than in typically developing (TD) children. This finding indicates that there is a difference in brain tissue health in children with CP that is quantifiable through stiffness measured with MRE.

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