Clinical experience with an in-NICU magnetic resonance imaging system

To evaluate the utility of the 1 Tesla (1 T) Embrace (Aspect Imaging) neonatal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner in a level III NICU.

Embrace brain MRI findings for 207 infants were reviewed, including 32 scans directly compared within 5 days with imaging on a 3 T Siemens Trio. Clinical MRI scan abnormalities were also compared to cranial ultrasound findings.

Of the 207 Embrace brain MRIs, 146 (70.5%) were obtained for clinical indications and 61 (29.5%) were research cases. Abnormal findings were found in 80 scans, most commonly hemorrhage and white matter injury. Notable findings included a stroke, medullary brainstem tumor, and polymicrogyria. In the 1 T versus 3 T comparison cohort, results were discordant in only one infant with punctate foci of susceptibility noted only on the 3 T scan.

The Embrace MRI scans detected clinically relevant brain abnormalities and in a subset were clinically comparable to 3 T scans.