Anat Biegon
Brook University School of Medicine, USA
Title: Fetal MRI in utero: Past, present, and future directions
Biography
Biography: Anat Biegon
Abstract
The widespread application of modern MRI techniques to the live fetus in utero is an evolving endeavor, contingent on ongoing improvement in hardware and software. At present, all major MRI techniques, including structural MRI imaging, diffusion weighted imaging (DWI), magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), and functional MRI, have been adapted for studies of the maternal – fetal unit with varying degrees of success. Issues affecting adaptation of MRI techniques to fetal imaging include safety, fetal motion and the small but changing size, anatomy and composition of the fetal organs. Consequently, clinical and research studies employing MRI techniques of the maternal – fetal unit are performed during the 2nd and 3rd trimester, eschewing the use of contrast (gadolinium) agents. Fetal movement is currently addressed by using multiple acquisitions with ultra-fast sequences, to which T2 weighted imaging is most amenable. The changing landscape of fetal size and tissue compositions requires adaptation of the field of view and sequence parameters to the age of the fetus for best contrast and resolution in anatomical as well as physiological (DWI) and biochemical (MRS) imaging techniques. Techniques requiring longer acquisition times and thus more sensitive to fetal motion; such as MRS, DTI and fMRI are used mostly in the research setting. Future expansion of fetal MRI applications rely on the adaptation of 3D acquisition, automated motion correction and volumetry as well as the establishment of multiple normative data bases of fetal development parameters for each gestational week.