Below is a blog post I wrote for our group after the Firefly neonatal scanner was highlighted on BBC. It’s a great, little scanner and I’m thrilled to be involved with this research. (Link to the post on our group’s blog.)
Building on previous work, Professor Martyn Paley has developed the concept of a bespoke MRI scanner for newborn babies (neonates) along with Professor Paul Griffiths. The result is a unique, full-strength neonate scanner, built by GE Healthcare and installed in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in the Jessop Wing. Named ‘Firefly’, the scanner is one of only two such prototype scanners in the world, and uniquely marries diagnostic imaging with easy access to our neonatal unit.
Featured last week on the BBC, the Firefly scanner has gained deserved attention. The BBC’s video of the scanner in action shows how important it is for the healthcare of newborn babies to have powerful scanning facilities within quick and easy reach. Tiny compared to adult scanners (which can easily weigh several tons), the Firefly would be able to fit in many small Neonatal Intensive Care Units. This is a major advantage over the more commonly used ultrasound imaging in providing ready access to high quality brain imaging.
Babies can be difficult to image as they rarely stay still. Our group have also recently published one of the first research papers with data collected using the Firefly scanner, in which we discuss a potential new way of correcting motion during MRI in babies. The paper is titled “Wireless Accelerometer for Neonatal MRI Motion Artifact Correction” and freely available.
We are delighted to have the Firefly scanner in Sheffield. It is an important clinical development and opens up exciting new possibilities for linking research on reproduction and development with the health of newborn babies.
The Firefly 3-Tesla neonate MRI scanner in the Jessop Wing. Image from Paley et al. 2017. Technologies, 5(1); 6. (CC BY 4.0)
breathing, blood and brains 