# Noninvasive Noncontact High-Density Optical Imaging of Neonatal Intraventricular Hemorrhage

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY · 2024 · $532,871

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Germinal matrix-intraventricular hemorrhage (GM-IVH) is a major complication of premature birth, occurring in
up to 45% of very low birthweight neonates (<1500 g) due to fragility of immature blood vessels within the
germinal matrix. GM-IVH can also lead to hydrocephalus (HCP) and increased intracranial pressure, which
further induces inflammation and brain tissue injury. Though neonatal GM-IVH and HCP are increasingly
common due to the rising survival rate of preterm births, there are no established biomarkers or guidelines for
their treatments to prevent brain injury. Preterm infants with GM-IVH/HCP are vulnerable to alterations in cerebral
blood flow (CBF) because they have impaired cerebrovascular autoregulation. However, there are no reliable
functional imaging methods at the bedside of neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) for repeatedly assessing
either degree of cerebral injury or effectiveness of interventions. Near-infrared spectroscopy and tomography
technologies have been used for decades as noninvasive bedside tools for continuous monitoring of cerebral
blood oxygen saturation (StO2). However, most systems lack the combination of spatial resolution and wide field-
of-view (FOV) to image distributed brain functions and discriminate the brain signal from overlaying scalp and
skull. A few high-density tomographic systems use numerous discrete sources and detectors coupled with fiber
bundles to a head cap. However, adjusting and maintaining a stable optical coupling of numerous fibers to a
small fragile neonatal head (i.e., a contact measurement) is labor-intensive and poses great challenges to head
cap design with safety concern. To overcome these limitations, we propose to develop a novel, noncontact,
high-density-detection (using a CCD/CMOS camera), multi-wavelength speckle contrast diffuse correlation
tomography (MW-scDCT) system to accommodate fast, high-resolution, functional imaging of both CBF and
StO2 over a large FOV on the neonatal head. The MW-scDCT will be rigorously calibrated and optimized using
standard tissue phantoms (Aim 1). In vivo calibration/evaluation will be conducted against MRI and histological
examination in an IVH/HCP model of neonatal piglets who preserve great similarities with human neonates (Aim
2). A pilot clinical observational study will be performed in preterm neonates with GM-IVH/HCP under standard
of care in the NICU (Aim 3). Cerebral hemodynamics/metabolism, cerebrovascular autoregulation, and cerebral
functional connectivity will be analyzed from serial functional images taken over several weeks after birth. We
hypothesize that cerebral hemodynamic/metabolic alterations detected by MW-scDCT correlate with
progression of brain injury after GM-IVH/HCP and recovery after treatment. Multiple parameters will provide
more comprehensive assessments of neonatal brain injury/recovery compared to a single parameter alone. This
study will fulfill a critical need in the field of neonatology to provide...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10817033
- **Project number:** 5R01HD101508-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY
- **Principal Investigator:** Guoqiang Yu
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $532,871
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-04-10 → 2027-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10817033

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10817033, Noninvasive Noncontact High-Density Optical Imaging of Neonatal Intraventricular Hemorrhage (5R01HD101508-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10817033. Licensed CC0.

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