By Christina Orlovsky, senior staff writer
What is big enough for a monkey but small enough for a
preemie? At one Michigan hospital the answer is a micro positron emission
tomography (PET) scanner—a device designed for animals undergoing research, but
currently in use for brain tests on neurologically impaired infants.
The micro PET scanner is a smaller version of a scanner that
is often used to detect cancer and brain abnormalities in older children and
adults, but is too large to produce a clear scan of an infant’s small brain,
said pediatric neurologist Harry Chugani, M.D., director of Neurology and director of the PET Center at the
Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University, in Detroit, the only center of its kind
exclusively in a children’s facility. Chugani had previously used a similar device to
study infant and adult monkeys.
“Small infants are somewhat the same size as monkeys,” said
Chugani, explaining that the infants undergoing testing are often premature,
weighing only 1.5 to 2 pounds. “The nice thing about the micro PET is that it is
designed to image small brains with a high resolution.”
After some minor adjustments and FDA approval, the micro PET
was ready to be used on humans. The machine was donated to the hospital,
allowing Chugani to provide scans to families at no charge.
Another benefit of the micro PET scanner is its size—about
that of a small refrigerator—which allows it to be placed directly in the NICU.
“When you have a nursery with preemies that are not in a very
stable situation—many are on life-support—it is a big ordeal to move them out of
neonatal intensive care and transport them down the elevator to the PET Center,”
Chugani explained. “Now, the micro PET scanner is right across the hall from the
babies, so the nurse that is in charge of the baby is also right there.”
So far, Chugani has performed scans on roughly 30 babies and
has been able to detect problems that would not have been visible with an MRI,
which he said is difficult to interpret in a baby. The micro PET is able to
detect malformations in the brain that could cause epileptic seizures as well as
damaged areas from bleeding in the brain that results in cerebral palsy. The scan can also be used
in babies with trauma to detect any resulting reorganizational changes in the
brain.
“It provides useful clinical information as well as research,”
Chugani added. “We can predict neurological problems early, and from a treatment
point of view for cerebral palsy, we can begin early intervention that is more directed to damaged areas.”
For more information, visit the PET Center/Children’s Hospital of Michigan Web site.
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