Cap-Based Transcranial Optical Tomography in an Awake Infant.

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Biomedical Optics
• Pediatric Neuroscience

Background:

• Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent (BOLD) functional MRI (fMRI) is limited in infants due to anesthesia requirements.
• Current continuous-wave functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy - Diffuse Optical Tomography (fNIRS-DOT) systems only measure the cortical surface.
• Deep brain structures, vulnerable in premature infants, are not assessed by current fNIRS-DOT.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce Cap-based Transcranial Optical Tomography (CTOT), a novel transcranial near-infrared optical imaging system.
• To demonstrate CTOT's capability for whole-brain hemodynamic activity imaging in awake children.
• To validate CTOT's accuracy by comparing its results with BOLD fMRI.

Main Methods:

• Development of a Cap-based Transcranial Optical Tomography (CTOT) system.
• Acquisition of whole-brain hemodynamic data within 3 seconds.
• Reconstruction of tomographic static oxy- and deoxygenated blood volumes.
• Comparison of CTOT-derived volumes with time-averaged BOLD fMRI volumes.

Main Results:

• CTOT successfully performed whole-brain oxygenation mapping in an awake child.
• Static CTOT-derived blood volumes showed spatial correlation with time-averaged BOLD fMRI volumes.
• The system achieved data acquisition in 3 seconds, reducing time bottlenecks.

Conclusions:

• CTOT presents a promising alternative neuroimaging technique for infants, avoiding anesthesia.
• The system's ability to map whole-brain hemodynamics is validated against fMRI.
• Future dynamic CTOT mapping could enable functional connectivity assessment in awake infants.