Understand the need for an MRI compatible neonatal incubator (MRIcNI) Review the clinical and research potential of the MRIcNI, with particular reference to brain injury and neurodevelopment in premature infants

Premature birth and neurodevelopmental delay Brain injury in premature infants is of enormous public health importance because of the large number of such infants who survive with serious neurodevelopmental disability”(1) Of Australian births in 2008 6.1% were low birth weight (LBW, <2.5kg) 1% were very low birth weight (VLBW, <1.5kg) 8.2% were preterm (<37 weeks gestation)(2) While survival rates of VLBW infants have improved, this has been accompanied by an increase in the number of those survivors who have long term neurological deficits(3) Preterm birth...

MRI compatible neonatal incubator An MRI compatible neonatal incubator (Nomag IC, Lammers Medical Technology, Lubeck, Germany), with dedicated head and body coils for use with both 1.5T and 3T MRI machines, has been purchased by the University of Queensland in conjunction with the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and the Royal Children’s Hospital. This was the first Australian purchase of a device of this type. The MRIcNI is suitable for patients with a weight up to approximately 4,500g and a head circumference up to approximately...

The MRIcNI has improved the safety of MRI for neonates and has contributed to better image quality is a significant resource for research in preterms, LBW and term babies with brain injury is providing better access to imaging for younger, smaller and sicker infants in the clinical setting in the future will allow for more advanced imaging techniques to be applied to this vulnerable population will facilitate translational research that will lead to improved neurodevelopmental outcomes in this vulnerable high risk population Acknowledgements Thanks to...

Professor Paul Colditz is the Foundation Professor of Perinatal Medicine at the University of Queensland and Director of the Perinatal Research Centre. He is an NHMRC Practitioner Fellow. Prof Colditz' multidisciplinary research group focuses on clinically important perinatal health problems. He is a practicing clinician in neonatology and plays a significant role in postdoctoral research training of competitively funded Postdoctoral Fellows and PhD students. Professor Alan Coulthard is a Professor of Neuroradiology at the University of Queensland, Head of the UQ Discipline of Medical Imaging...

1. Volpe JJ. Brain injury in premature infants: a complex amalgam of destructive and developmental disturbances. Lancet Neurol 2009;8:110-124 2. P Laws ZL, EA Sullivan. Australia's mothers and babies 2008. In: AIHW, ed. Perinatal statistics series no 24 Cat no PER 50. Canberra; 2010 3. Wilson-Costello D, Friedman H, Minich N, Fanaroff AA, Hack M. Improved survival rates with increased neurodevelopmental disability for extremely low birth weight infants in the 1990s. Pediatrics 2005;115:997-1003 4. Allen MC. Neurodevelopmental outcomes of preterm infants. Curr Opin Neurol 2008;21:123-128...