Schedule of Events | Symposia

Improving Infant MRI Success Rates in HBCD Study Visits

Poster Session D - Monday, March 31, 2025, 8:00 – 10:00 am EDT, Back Bay Ballroom/Republic Ballroom

Olivia Poolos¹, Emily K. Walsh¹, Vicky Acuna¹, Alberto Martínez-Hernández¹, Michelle Bosquet Enlow, PhD¹, P Ellen Grant, MD, MSc¹, Banu Ahtam, DPhil¹; ¹Boston Children's Hospital

The HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study is a nationwide, longitudinal study examining neurological, cognitive, physical, and social development in infants and children. One major assessment used is magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), performed at multiple timepoints across infancy and throughout childhood. MRI is a powerful tool in examining brain development in infants. For successful data collection, infants must sleep, unsedated, through the procedure. The Boston Children’s Hospital HBCD Study site examined MRI success rates at BCH and observed that newborn scans (N= 66; Mage=1.04 months; SD=0.13) were 16.2% more successful than older infant scans (N = 36; Mage= 6.81 months; SD= 1.53). The objective of the present study was to examine relative success rates for infant MRIs (conducted between 3 and 9 months) in conjunction with the order of other study activities. The goal was to determine the visit schedule that maximizes scan success rates. Infant visit activities include an electroencephalogram (EEG), two behavioral tasks, and an MRI. Infants who completed an EEG and at least one behavioral task before the MRI had an MRI success rate of 74% (N = 19) compared to a 40% success rate for infants who completed no EEG and fewer than two behavioral tasks before the scan (N = 15). Our findings suggest that performing EEG and at least one behavioral test before MRI increases MRI success rates for infants aged 3-9 months. These findings could help inform subsequent studies attempting unsedated MR imaging on infant populations.

Topic Area: METHODS: Neuroimaging