Project Details
Projekt
Fetal 4D Flow MRI for the evaluation of congenital heart disease using an MR-compatible Doppler Ultrasound Sensor
Subject Area
Radiology
Term
since 2021
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 461210147
Congenital heart defects (CHD) are the most common fetal abnormalities. CHD are associated with high mortality, if it is not already diagnosed prenatally. Prenatal ultrasound plays a central role but may be limited in the detection of CHD. The development of alternative and innovative imaging methods is needed to improve prenatal diagnosis and thus the prognosis of fetuses with CHD.ECG-gated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is established in the diagnosis of cardio-vascular pathologies in children and adults. Until recently, however, it was not possible to generate a gating signal necessary for fetal cardiovascular MRI in pregnant women due to the intrauterine location of the fetus. We were able to solve this problem using an MRI-compatible Doppler ultrasound sensor (DUS) developed in the previous funding period. DUS-gating allowed us to successfully generate fetal cardiovascular MR images in different cohorts of fetuses. A further development of cardiovascular MRI is the recently developed 4D flow MRI. 4D flow MRI allows time-resolved co-registration of morphological images and velocity data over the entire cardiac cycle in a three-dimensional volume. In our clinic, we have successfully established 4D flow MRI for assessment of aortic anatomy and visualization and quantification of blood flow in the aorta of adult patients.The overarching goal of our funding application is to combine our self-developed DUS-gating with 4D flow MRI for fetal imaging in pregnant women. Specifically, we want to 1) establish and 2) validate fetal DUS-gated 4D flow MRI and 3) evaluate the potential diagnostic benefit in fetuses with CHD.If successful, prenatal DUS-gated 4D flow MRI may allow the definition of predictive anatomical and/or hemodynamic parameters that could increase the diagnostic accuracy for CHD and thus potentially improve the prognosis of fetuses with CHD.
DFG Programme
Research Grants
