Placenta Imaging Project

Recently-developed placenta-specific magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tools will be used to quantify maternal perfusion and oxygen transfer throughout pregnancy in 3 groups of human subjects: 1) non-smokers, 2) smokers, 3) individuals at high risk for adverse outcome. The objective of this work is to develop a new non-invasive clinical tool for early identification of placental dysfunction.

Recently-developed placenta-specific magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tools will be used to quantify maternal perfusion and oxygen transfer throughout pregnancy. The objective of this ancillary arm is to further test the sensitivity of placental magnetic resonance imaging to detect abnormal perfusion and oxygenation in confirmed cases of IUGR between gestational ages 28 to 36 weeks.