Abstract
Medical optical imaging (MOI) uses light emitted into opaque tissues to determine the interior structure. Previous reports detailed a portable time-of-flight and absorbance system emitting pulses of near infrared light into tissues and measuring the emerging light. Using this system, optical images of phantoms, whole rats, and pathologic neonatal brain specimens have been tomographically reconstructed. We have now modified the existing instrumentation into a clinically relevant headband-based system to be used for optical imaging of structure in the neonatal brain at the bedside. Eight medical optical imaging studies in the neonatal intensive care unit were performed in a blinded clinical comparison of optical images with ultrasound, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging. Optical images were interpreted as correct in six of eight cases, with one error attributed to the age of the clot, and one small clot not seen. In addition, one disagreement with ultrasound, not reported as an error, was found to be the result of a mislabeled ultrasound report rather than because of an inaccurate optical scan. Optical scan correlated well with computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging findings in one patient. We conclude that light-based imaging using a portable time-of-flight system is feasible and represents an important new noninvasive diagnostic technique, with potential for continuous monitoring of critically ill neonates at risk for intraventricular hemorrhage or stroke. Further studies are now underway to further investigate the functional imaging capabilities of this new diagnostic tool.
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Abbreviations
- MOI:
-
medical optical imaging
- MOS:
-
medical optical spectroscopy
- TOFA:
-
time-of-flight and absorbance
- CT:
-
computed tomography
- MRI:
-
magnetic resonance imaging
- IVH:
-
intraventricular hemorrhage
- ECMO:
-
extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
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This work was supported by the Walter and Idun Berry Fellowship at Stanford, National Institutes of Health Grants N43-NS-4-2315, N43-NS-6-2315, and MOL-RR00070, Office of Naval Research Grant N-00014-94-1024, and the United Cerebral Palsy Foundation. D.A.B. is the Ethel Hausman Fellow of the United Cerebral Palsy Foundation.
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Hintz, S., Cheong, WF., Van Houten, J. et al. Bedside Imaging of Intracranial Hemorrhage in the Neonate Using Light: Comparison with Ultrasound, Computed Tomography, and Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Pediatr Res 45, 54–59 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199901000-00009
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199901000-00009
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