Mini profile - Charles Dumoulin

Visiting Professor Charles Dumoulin who has worked with researchers at Imperial since the 1980s, is giving two guest lectures this month.

Visiting Professor Charles Dumoulin, Scientific Director of the Imaging Research Centre at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, USA, who has worked with researchers at Imperial since the 1980s, is giving two guest lectures this month. Reporter caught up with him to find out why he wants to see MR – a new type of MRI scanning – readily available for premature babies.

What is an MRI?

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an imaging technique used in medicine to diagnose disease. It employs large magnets but, unlike X-rays, it does not use ionising radiation.

What is the current problem with MRI scanners?

Premature babies in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) are among the most fragile patients treated by doctors today. They are very sensitive to light, sound, temperature and physical disturbances. While NICU babies have many medical conditions that could be diagnosed with modern imaging techniques, in reality babies are rarely sent out of the NICU for advanced imaging exams, such as MRI, as the risk of moving them typically outweighs the medical benefits of the exam.

You have carried out a study trialling a new type of MRI scanner. Could this improve neonatal care?

The NICU MR scanner that we have developed is considerably smaller and easier to site than a conventional MR scanner. This is expected to have a substantial impact in reducing the cost of MRI for premature babies. By making MR readily available to premature babies, therapies that manage and minimise trauma can be more quickly and accurately applied.

How would you like to see this technology used in the future?

In light of the value that MR brings, it is not unreasonable to expect that, in addition to medically- indicated scanning, every NICU baby may one day be MR scanned on admission and/ or discharge from the unit.