An fMRI Compatible Smart Device for Measuring Palmar Grasping Actions in Newborns
Daniela Lo Presti,
Sofia Dall’Orso,
Silvia Muceli,
Tomoki Arichi,
Sara Neumane,
Anna Lukens,
Riccardo Sabbadini,
Carlo Massaroni,
Michele Arturo Caponero,
Domenico Formica,
Etienne Burdet,
Emiliano Schena
Affiliations
Daniela Lo Presti
Unit of Measurements and Biomedical Instrumentation, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Via Alvaro del Portillo, 00128 Rome, Italy
Sofia Dall’Orso
Division of Signal Processing and Biomedical Engineering, Department of Electrical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden
Silvia Muceli
Division of Signal Processing and Biomedical Engineering, Department of Electrical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden
Tomoki Arichi
Centre for the Developing Brain, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College London, London WC2R 2LS, UK
Sara Neumane
Centre for the Developing Brain, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College London, London WC2R 2LS, UK
Anna Lukens
Paediatric Neurosciences, Evelina London Children’s Hospital, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, London SE1 7EH, UK
Riccardo Sabbadini
Unit of Measurements and Biomedical Instrumentation, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Via Alvaro del Portillo, 00128 Rome, Italy
Carlo Massaroni
Unit of Measurements and Biomedical Instrumentation, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Via Alvaro del Portillo, 00128 Rome, Italy
Michele Arturo Caponero
Photonics Micro- and Nanostructures Laboratory, ENEA Research Center of Frascati, 00044 Frascati (RM), Italy
Domenico Formica
Unit of Neurophysiology and Neuroengineering of Human-Technology Interaction (NeXt Lab), Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Via Alvaro del Portillo, 00128 Rome, Italy
Etienne Burdet
Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
Emiliano Schena
Unit of Measurements and Biomedical Instrumentation, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Via Alvaro del Portillo, 00128 Rome, Italy
Grasping is one of the first dominant motor behaviors that enable interaction of a newborn infant with its surroundings. Although atypical grasping patterns are considered predictive of neuromotor disorders and injuries, their clinical assessment suffers from examiner subjectivity, and the neuropathophysiology is poorly understood. Therefore, the combination of technology with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) may help to precisely map the brain activity associated with grasping and thus provide important insights into how functional outcomes can be improved following cerebral injury. This work introduces an MR-compatible device (i.e., smart graspable device (SGD)) for detecting grasping actions in newborn infants. Electromagnetic interference immunity (EMI) is achieved using a fiber Bragg grating sensor. Its biocompatibility and absence of electrical signals propagating through the fiber make the safety profile of the SGD particularly favorable for use with fragile infants. Firstly, the SGD design, fabrication, and metrological characterization are described, followed by preliminary assessments on a preterm newborn infant and an adult during an fMRI experiment. The results demonstrate that the combination of the SGD and fMRI can safely and precisely identify the brain activity associated with grasping behavior, which may enable early diagnosis of motor impairment and help guide tailored rehabilitation programs.
