# A SAFE AND COMPACT NEONATE TO ADULT NEUROIMAGING MRI SYSTEM

> **NIH NIH R44** · ADVANCED IMAGING RESEARCH, INC. · 2022 · $1,472,134

## Abstract

NIH SBIR PA-18-871 w/o Clinical Trials A Safe and Compact Neonate to Adult Neuroimaging MRI System
The intriguing human brain is the most imaged end-organ non-invasively, without ionizing radiation using
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). High spatial resolution brain MRI is an established diagnostic tool to
assess injury mechanisms affecting newborn growth and the adult human connectome. To predict neuro-
developmental outcome necessary to validate effectiveness of therapy in infants and adults, mapping
dynamic anatomical and functional connectivity in the human brain is essential. However, many unstable
premature newborns are kept from stat MRI diagnosis because transport to adult MRIs located remotely
in the radiology department is highly risky. Serial MRI necessary to validate effectiveness of therapy or
clinical intervention requiring multiple transports between the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and MRI
sections places additional burden on the NICU staff and the baby. In its current form adult MRI's with many
unrelated and unsuitable features for kids are expensive, complex and impractical for routine clinical use.
The overall goal of this SBIR project is to create a compact MRI system, by combining innovations in
patient-centric care and salient imaging technology. This safe system can be installed for whole-body
imaging of sick children in the neonatal, pediatric and cardiac intensive care units. The `low-intrinsic risk'
design ideal for safe pediatric use will be widely accepted by the hospital staff. The compact MRI is
concurrently designed for imaging the adult brain, and suitable for installation in any hospital department
or on a truck. The human connectome project (HCP) uses diffusion and BOLD-based functional MRI to
derive whole-brain structural and functional connectivity maps for individual subjects at 1.25-2mm
resolution (2-8µL voxels). Our research imaging goals are to attain targets between 0.125µL and 0.5µL
isotropic voxels with the 100mT/m strong gradients over the neonatal and adult brain in support of research
in reasonable scan times. Enhanced image quality obtained with the strong gradients can help unravel
brain development and repair associated with a variety of neurological, psychiatric, neurodegenerative and
congenital disorders. Our technology alleviates cost and safety burdens imposed by large foot-print adult
whole-body MRIs on the hospital and pediatric patients. Multiple uses of the custom, compact MRI system
with its combined patient-centric care and radiology approach proposed is original. A successful project
will shift the trend from radiology based scanners to clinical departments where stat diagnosis is possible
for pediatric patients and adults. Success of this project will stimulate development of a mobile mental
health and stroke detection MRI systems, ultra-compact MRIs for extremity and small animal imaging, and
mid- to low-field off-grid MRI for world use. A safer compact MRI for 0-2 year olds an...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10264552
- **Project number:** 4R44MH122273-03
- **Recipient organization:** ADVANCED IMAGING RESEARCH, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Ravi Srinivasan
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $1,472,134
- **Award type:** 4N
- **Project period:** 2019-09-24 → 2025-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10264552

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10264552, A SAFE AND COMPACT NEONATE TO ADULT NEUROIMAGING MRI SYSTEM (4R44MH122273-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10264552. Licensed CC0.

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