The University of Queensland and hospital partners will unveil a $1 million MRI incubator, especially designed for brain scans of premature and sick newborns.
To be scanned, the newborns can remain in their warm and safe incubator which slides into a standard magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine.
MRI scanning of newborns is not done routinely due to the problems associated with using an adult MRI machine.
The MRI incubator will enable early diagnosis of brain impairment by doctors at the Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital and the Royal Children’s Hospital. It will also enable University of Queensland researchers to focus on earlier and more effective treatments for brain impaired newborns.
The MRI Incubator will be unveiled this Sunday, 22 November 2009.