AA. Martinos Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA.
Department of Newborn Medicine, Fetal-Neonatal Neuroimaging and Developmental Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Sensors (Basel). 2023 Mar 31;23(7):3633. doi: 10.3390/s23073633.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and continuous electroencephalogram (EEG) monitoring are essential in the clinical management of neonatal seizures. EEG electrodes, however, can significantly degrade the image quality of both MRI and CT due to substantial metallic artifacts and distortions. Thus, we developed a novel thin film trace EEG net ("NeoNet") for improved MRI and CT image quality without compromising the EEG signal quality. The aluminum thin film traces were fabricated with an ultra-high-aspect ratio (up to 17,000:1, with dimensions 30 nm × 50.8 cm × 100 µm), resulting in a low density for reducing CT artifacts and a low conductivity for reducing MRI artifacts. We also used numerical simulation to investigate the effects of EEG nets on the B transmit field distortion in 3 T MRI. Specifically, the simulations predicted a 65% and 138% B transmit field distortion higher for the commercially available copper-based EEG net ("CuNet", with and without current limiting resistors, respectively) than with NeoNet. Additionally, two board-certified neuroradiologists, blinded to the presence or absence of NeoNet, compared the image quality of MRI images obtained in an adult and two children with and without the NeoNet device and found no significant difference in the degree of artifact or image distortion. Additionally, the use of NeoNet did not cause either: (i) CT scan artifacts or (ii) impact the quality of EEG recording. Finally, MRI safety testing confirmed a maximum temperature rise associated with the NeoNet device in a child head-phantom to be 0.84 °C after 30 min of high-power scanning, which is within the acceptance criteria for the temperature for 1 h of normal operating mode scanning as per the FDA guidelines. Therefore, the proposed NeoNet device has the potential to allow for concurrent EEG acquisition and MRI or CT scanning without significant image artifacts, facilitating clinical care and EEG/fMRI pediatric research.
磁共振成像（MRI）和连续脑电图（EEG）监测在新生儿癫痫的临床管理中至关重要。然而，由于大量的金属伪影和变形，EEG 电极会显著降低 MRI 和 CT 的图像质量。因此，我们开发了一种新型的薄膜痕迹 EEG 网（“NeoNet”），可在不影响 EEG 信号质量的情况下提高 MRI 和 CT 的图像质量。铝薄膜痕迹采用超高纵横比（高达 17000:1，尺寸为 30nm×50.8cm×100μm）制造，从而降低 CT 伪影的密度和降低 MRI 伪影的电导率。我们还使用数值模拟研究了 EEG 网对 3T MRI 中 B 发射场失真的影响。具体来说，模拟预测商用铜基 EEG 网（“CuNet”，分别带有和不带有限流电阻器）的 B 发射场失真比 NeoNet 高 65%和 138%。此外，两名经过 board-certified 的神经放射科医生在不知道 NeoNet 是否存在的情况下，比较了在成人和两名儿童中使用和不使用 NeoNet 设备获得的 MRI 图像的图像质量，发现伪影或图像变形的程度没有显著差异。此外，使用 NeoNet 既不会导致 CT 扫描伪影，也不会影响 EEG 记录的质量。最后，MRI 安全测试确认在儿童头部模拟体中，使用 NeoNet 设备 30 分钟后，与设备相关的最大温度升高为 0.84°C，这符合 FDA 指南中正常操作模式扫描 1 小时的温度接受标准。因此，拟议的 NeoNet 设备有可能在不产生明显图像伪影的情况下同时进行 EEG 采集和 MRI 或 CT 扫描，从而促进临床护理和 EEG/fMRI 儿科研究。
