Pulsed magnetic field exposure during pregnancy and implications for NMR foetal imaging: a study with mice.

Following the recent progress in NMR imaging of the foetus in utero an investigation has been made of the effect of exposure to strong pulsed magnetic fields on the pregnancy of mice and the post natal development of their litters. 23 pregnant mice received exposures ranging from 3.5-12kT/s with pulse periods in the range 0.33-0.56ms at various times during gestation. A similar number of pregnant mice served as controls. No adverse effect was observed on the pregnancy. There was no significant difference between the litter numbers and growth rates of the exposed litters compared with controls. The implications of these results are discussed with regard to the safety of NMR imaging during pregnancy.