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RecruitingNCT07577336pMRI for HIBIUpdated Sep 24, 2026

Portable MRI for Pediatric Hypoxic Ischemic Brain Injury

An interventional study of Portable MRI and Scavenged Sample Collection in Acute Brain Injury, Hypoxia, Brain and Ischemia, Brain, sponsored by Children's Mercy Hospital Kansas City. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged Up to 17 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-24.

Sponsored by Children's Mercy Hospital Kansas City · Not applicable, Interventional, and Diagnostic

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
200
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
Up to 17 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This study will evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of low field portable MRI (pMRI) for detection of hypoxic ischemic brain injuries in pediatric patients compared to clinically obtained neuroimaging to define pediatric diagnostic limitations and to determine the diagnostic capabilities of this neuroimaging modality following optimization of image acquisition. The results of this study will help determine optimal clinical implementation opportunities in pediatric patients.

Read the detailed description

Standard brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the gold-standard to diagnose acute ischemic brain injuries; however, it is not always feasible to obtain this standard MRI due to risks and contraindications. Some of the most common risks can include transport to the radiology department, especially with critically ill patients on life-saving medical devices, exposure to ionizing radiation, and contraindications can include incompatible surgical hardware in patients' bodies, amongst others.

Our institution has an FDA-cleared portable MRI (pMRI) by Hyperfine Research, Inc. (HRI). This device addresses many of the conventional MRI challenges by:

  1. Operating at very low magnetic field strengths strength (less than 0.2 T or approximately 10 times less than the field strength of conventional devices) and eliminating the need for special rooms or shielding. Family members and staff can remain at the patient's bedside.
  2. Minimizing conditions such as claustrophobia and anxiety with an open concept, transparent "helmet" to rest the head in during the exam.
  3. Portable and can maneuver through hospital environments and wheeled directly to a patient's bedside.
  4. Noise levels are substantially lower than conventional MRI systems, so hearing protection is optional for the patient. The sounds are described as vibrations that produce rhythmic tones.
02

Conditions studied

  • Acute Brain Injury
  • Hypoxia, Brain
  • Ischemia, Brain
  • Brain Injuries
  • Stroke

Keywords

  • pediatric neurocritical care
  • neuroimaging
03

Who can participate

Ages eligible
Up to 17 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Patients hospitalized in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, or the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
  • Ages 0-17 years at study enrollment
  • Acute neurologic deficit suspected secondary to Hypoxic Ischemic Brain Injury (HIBI) or patients at high risk for HIBI

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Pregnancy
  • Any patient who has a contraindication to having an MRI

Patients with a passive or active implant will:

  • First be reviewed on MRISafety.com to determine MR conditionality
  • If the device is listed as Conditional or Unsafe for a 1.5T or a 3T, the device will then be reviewed by the MRI Safety Officer or MRI Physician Section chief to determine true conditionality for the portable MRI
04

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Diagnostic
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
200 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Portable MRI Arm

    All subjects enrolled with be assigned to Arm 1

    Device: Portable MRI · Other: Scavenged Sample Collection

Interventions

  • DevicePortable MRI

    Enrolled subjects will undergo a portable, ultralow-field MRI (pMRI) at the bedside in the ICU location within +/- 24 hours of a clinically obtained, conventional MRI and/or head CT

  • OtherScavenged Sample Collection

    Remaining blood or cerebrospinal fluid samples from clinical testing will be scavenged at timepoints correlating to the radiology imaging.

05

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Determine the sensitivity and specificity of pMRI for detection of acute pediatric focal ischemic brain injuries.

    Perform pMRI on pediatric ICU patients within +/- 24 hours of a clinically obtained, conventional MRI. Compare detection rates and severity of ischemia and cerebral edema by pMRI vs conventional MRI to determine sensitivity and specificity.

    Time frame: During intensive care admittance, an average of 1 month

  2. Establish the sensitivity and specificity of pMRI relative to head CT for detection of cerebral edema and ischemic brain injury in critically ill patients deemed unstable for standard MRI.

    Perform pMRI on pediatric ICU patients within +/- 24 hours of a clinically obtained, conventional head CT obtained for acute neurologic changes. Compare detection rates and severity of cerebral edema and ischemia by pMRI vs head CT to establish sensitivity and specificity.

    Time frame: During intensive care admittance, an average of 1 month

  3. Calculate the sensitivity and specificity of pMRI for detection of acute pediatric global hypoxic-ischemic brain injuries

    Perform pMRI on pediatric ICU patients within +/- 24 hours of a clinically obtained, conventional MRI that demonstrates acute global hypoxic-ischemic brain injury as read by a clinical neuroradiologist. Compare detection rates and severity of acute global hypoxic-ischemic brain injury by pMRI vs conventional MRI to calculate sensitivity and specificity.

    Time frame: During intensive care admittance, an average of 1 month

Secondary outcomes

  1. Assess the association of imaging findings and rates of clinical neurologic events

    The rate of seizures, pupillary changes, focal neurologic deficits, and other clinical neuromonitoring data will be assessed for correlation to and type of acute brain injury diagnosed on neuroimaging.

    Time frame: From ICU admission until final neuroimaging during active study participation

06

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
  • Children's Mercy Kansas City
    Kansas City, Missouri 64108, United States
    Recruiting
07

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No — Individual participant data, images, and biosamples will be stored in an institutional Pediatric Acute Brain Injury (PediABI) Repository. De-identified IPD will be made available upon reasonable request to the study PI with appropriate IRB approval and contracting.

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

08

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07577336
Lead sponsor
Children's Mercy Hospital Kansas City
Responsible party
Jessica S. Wallisch (Pediatric Intensivist, Children's Mercy Hospital Kansas City) — Principal investigator
First posted
May 11, 2026
Start date
Jul 6, 2026
Primary completion
Dec 2027 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 2027 (estimated)
Last update
Sep 24, 2026

Study contacts

Jessica S Wallisch, MD
Contact
jwallisch@cmh.edu
(816) 816-7929
Hannah Mendenhall, BSN, RN, CPN
Contact
hmendenhall@cmh.edu
816-816-9850
Jessica S Wallisch, MD
principal investigator · Children's Mercy Kansas City

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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