Elsevier

Clinics in Perinatology

Volume 36, Issue 4, December 2009, Pages 807-834
Clinics in Perinatology

Advances in Near-Infrared Spectroscopy to Study the Brain of the Preterm and Term Neonate

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clp.2009.07.007Get rights and content

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Material and methods

The authors searched for papers on the database MEDLINE (PubMed) using the keywords: “near-infrared,” “neonate” for cerebral autoregulation, blood volume, flow and oxygenation and “near-infrared spectroscopy,” “neonate” and “brain” for brain activity up to May 2009. The references were screened and the full texts of relevant publications were retrieved. For non-English articles, the review was limited to the abstract. The review of instruments was restricted to NIRS oximetry and/or NIRI

Instrumentation

NIRS instruments are mostly portable, and with the rapid development of optics and electronics have become increasingly economical and robust.

In brief, measurement of deep tissues is made possible by the relative transparency of tissue in the range of wavelengths from 700 to 1000 nm, called the near-infrared (NIR) window. At shorter wavelengths, in the visible spectrum, the chromophore hemoglobin absorbs strongly and prevents a deeper look. At longer wavelengths, water absorbs increasingly. In

Assessment of neonatal brain activity by NIRS/NIRI

One important application of NIRS/NIRI is to study activity and function of the brain and its development. For this purpose, specific stimuli are applied and the response of the brain is recorded. Two types of optical signals associated with brain activity can be detected by NIRS/NIRI: the neuronal signal, which occurs within milliseconds and reflects optical changes in the neuron, and the hemodynamic signal, which occurs within seconds and is associated with an increase in blood flow to the

Summary

Near-infrared spectrometry (NIRS) and imaging (NIRI) to study preterm and newborn infants are reviewed. Two main applications of NIRS and NIRI are discussed:

  • 1.

    The measurement of cerebral autoregulation, blood volume, flow, and oxygenation. Here the future aim is to safeguard the brain by adjusting the blood and oxygen supply to the brain to adequate levels and to prevent brain lesions. For this purpose, instrumentation, which provides absolute values of tissue oxygenation is available and

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    For this review no specific funding was received.

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