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INFANT Led European Network to Advance Development of Algorithms that Detect Brain Injuries in Infants

INFANT Led European Network to Advance Development of Algorithms that Detect Brain Injuries in Infants

By Comms|2022-09-12T14:22:44+01:00October 27th, 2021|

INFANT’s Dr John O’Toole will lead a team of international researchers to accelerate the development of AI Technologies that detect brain injuries in infants.

Working alongside a team of scientists, clinicians and technical experts from 14 different European countries, Dr John O’Toole aims to build capacity and strengthen cooperation among international research groups, with the goal of developing algorithms that will minimise the risk of babies developing catastrophic life-long neonatal brain injuries.

Insufficient oxygen around the time of birth can cause brain injury. For babies born prematurely, the heart and lungs may struggle to adapt to the new environment which can lead to brain injury too. Brain monitoring of a tiny infant in an intensive care unit is challenging.

It can be difficult and slow to interpret the complex brain-wave patterns. AI systems are a perfect fit to this problem, as they can be designed to automatically recognise signs of brain injury.

Funded by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology, the researchers involved in the AI-4-NICU project plan to build on existing cot-side technologies, such as devices that measure brain waves, by including AI algorithms to detect markers of brain injury.

This, Dr O’Toole anticipates, will lead to the development of decision-support tools that will help clinicians in neonatal intensive care units to quickly identify potential brain injuries that can result in death, cerebral palsy, or delayed development.

Reading and interpreting the brain-wave signals is a notoriously difficult task which requires highly specialised expertise. AI systems can be designed to mimic the human expert, by shifting through enormous amounts of data to automatically find signs of brain injury.

These AI systems, unlike the human expert, can then run around the clock for all at-risk infants to provide a continuous assessment of brain health.

To develop the device, Dr O’Toole and his team will first develop the tools necessary to acquire, pool, share, and manage neuro-physiological data sets.

They will then create a framework to develop, test, and compare algorithms that they hope will act as decision-support tools in neonatal intensive care units.

Learn More about Newborn Cephalohematoma here (more…)

PhD Profile: Kimia Rezaei on Developing Algorithms to Measure Abnormal Biosignals

PhD Profile: Kimia Rezaei on Developing Algorithms to Measure Abnormal Biosignals

By Comms|2021-10-22T09:31:25+01:00October 22nd, 2021|

One of five PhD students to begin their studies at INFANT this semester, Kimia Rezaei comes to University College Cork with a great deal of academic and industry experience.

After completing a Masters in electrical engineering at Islamic Azad University in Iran during 2014, Kimia sought out and secured a role with Sahand Parsian Gharb Communication Service Company, where she developed an advanced knowledge of mobile networks and Ericsson’s sophisticated equipment and software.

During that time, Kimia also enhanced her academic profile, publishing three articles in peer reviewed journals.

Focusing each of her publications on the segmentation and classification of brain tumour images using machine learning algorithms, Kimia developed a specialism in a field that naturally aligned with INFANT’s research strengths.

Working under the supervision of Professor Liam Marnane and Dr Gordon Lightbody, Kimia will be given the opportunity to enhance her knowledge and expertise as she seeks to develop an algorithm that will measure the symptoms that trigger abnormal biosignal readings among infants.

Kimia’s PhD project leans on her most recent publication, which demonstrated how radiologists can employ machine learning algorithms and computer-aided diagnosis systems to make more informed medical decisions.

If we can accurately predict abnormal EEG and ECG signals, we can begin to pre-emptively diagnose and treat infants.

To do this, my research aims to accurately measure things like brain activity and blood pressure so that we can collect data that will help us to create an algorithm that will allow clinicians to quickly diagnose, treat and cure children.

I hope that my research will help children to grow up healthy.

Kimia is in the early stages of her study after joining the INFANT team in September. Scheduled to complete the PhD programme in 2025, Kimia is driven by an ambition to work at the intersection between healthcare and technology after she graduates.

PhD Student Profile: Mary Anne Ryan, General Nurse, Paediatric Nurse and Mid-Wife

PhD Student Profile: Mary Anne Ryan, General Nurse, Paediatric Nurse and Mid-Wife

By Comms|2021-10-14T10:52:28+01:00October 13th, 2021|

Introducing herself as a registered general nurse, paediatric nurse and a mid-wife, INFANT PhD researcher, Mary Anne Ryan, is fervent in her desire to protect brain development of pre-term babies who pass through the neonatal unit in CUMH.

Mary Anne describes how advances in technology have pushed back the limits of viability, reducing mortality associated with preterm birth. However there has been little change in morbidity amongst the preterm infant group.

A clinical researcher, Mary Anne has a specific interest in the importance of sleep to the developing brain, explaining that sleep is a prerequisite for normal growth and a precondition for the normal development of the infrastructure of the brain.

‘There is a reason why preterm babies may sleep for up to 90% of the day. Whilst it may appear to be physically passive and restful, a high level of brain activity is maintained, which is crucial to a preterm infants’ developing brain’.

‘While we monitor heart rate, respirations, temperature, how well the body is oxygenated and the nutritional intake of preterm infants in the neonatal unit, we do not routinely monitor brain activity’.

Brain activity may be monitored through electroencephalography (EEG). Sleep states (active sleep and quiet sleep) are associated with particular neural activity patterns which change with brain maturation.

‘Knowing what features and patterns are normal for gestational age we can determine if the brain development is on a normal trajectory of development’.

Mary Anne’s research focuses on moderate to late preterm infants (born between 32- and 36+6-weeks GA). A preterm group represent up to 85% of all preterm infants born and are largely underrepresented in the literature.

‘Normally, brain growth and development occur in the womb until term, a place of minimal sensory exposure’.

‘The high sensory environment of the neonatal unit may be home to preterm infants for many weeks with bright lights, high levels of noise, stressful painful procedures, all of which frequently interrupt sleep our natural neuroprotective state during a critical period of development’.

‘What I’m really asking is what does the sleep architecture of the moderate to late preterm infant at 36 weeks in the neonatal unit tell us about their future brain development?’

Mary Anne’s research required her to carry out overnight EEG’s on over 100 preterm infants at 36 weeks in the neonatal unit in CUMH and carry out follow up developmental assessments at four- and 18-months corrected age. Sleep/wake patterns during the preterm period have been found to be related to developmental outcomes. However longitudinal studies relating to sleep state organisation amongst this homogenous group of preterm infants are rare.

‘Secondly, I’m asking, how does brain development of this preterm infant group compare to healthy term born infants at the same gestational age?’

‘Traditionally healthy moderate to late preterm infants have minimal ongoing long-term surveillance’.

‘Whilst the majority of these infants do well a significantly higher percentage of adverse outcomes are evident in the literature in comparison to term born infants’.

Mary Anne’s research will also compare developmental outcome scores of the preterm infant group to a term born group recruited as part of another study.

Motivated by a desire to enhance the care that is already being delivered to pre-term babies, Mary Anne’s focus on the practical application of her research stems from her conviction that nurses bring a unique contribution to neurodevelopmental care.

As a clinical researcher, Mary Anne has a specific interest in the practical application of her research, which could lead to the adoption of new practices that create periods of protected sleep so as to improve the long-term neuro-developmental outcomes for pre-term babies.

INFANT Seminar Series: Dr Nahla Ahmed and Dr Antoine Giraud to Discuss Their Research

INFANT Seminar Series: Dr Nahla Ahmed and Dr Antoine Giraud to Discuss Their Research

By Comms|2021-10-13T09:20:07+01:00October 13th, 2021|

The INFANT seminar series will continue this Friday, October 15th 2021 at a slightly later time of 12.30 pm. For the coming weeks, we hope to welcome our new clinical fellows and PhD students and learn about some of their plans while here in INFANT.

First up are two new clinical fellows. Dr Nahla Ahmed, a paediatric registrar, will be discussing EEG in the hypotensive pre-term infant, and Dr Antoine Giraud, a visiting French clinical fellow will be discussing EEG changes in pre-term infants associated with peri-natal inflammation.

Dr. Eoghan McKernan Takes Part in 7th Annual Trials Methodology Symposium

Dr. Eoghan McKernan Takes Part in 7th Annual Trials Methodology Symposium

By Comms|2021-10-06T13:00:02+01:00October 6th, 2021|

Dr. Eoghan McKernan took part in the 7^th Annual Trials Methodology Symposium, presenting an exciting Post-PhD career perspectives & viewpoints presentation, with an emphasis on Infrastructure Management. Eoghan presented a case study on infrastructure management at INFANT.

This year’s theme is ‘’The Future of clinical trials: people, project, purpose, place’’

The prestigious event, which was hosted between 4-6 October, can be accessed online at www.hrb-tmrn.ie

The event is hosted by HRB-Trials Methodology Network (UCD), MRC/NIHR Trials Methodology Research Partnership and the UK Trial Managers Network.

The interactive event includes presentations from leading international speakers with dedicated Q&As, and live discussions. To find out more visit:

7th Annual Trials Methodology Symposium – HRB-TMRN

New Survey Examines the Care Experiences of Women and Their Partners Who Have Had Recurrent Miscarriages

New Survey Examines the Care Experiences of Women and Their Partners Who Have Had Recurrent Miscarriages

By Comms|2021-09-23T11:09:02+01:00September 22nd, 2021|

Miscarriage affects one in four couples, while at least 1-3% will experience at least two or more first-trimester miscarriages in a row, known as recurrent miscarriage. The loss of a baby at any stage of pregnancy can have a devastating impact on a woman, her partner, and their family, even more so if this loss occurs several times.

Led by Professor Keelin O’Donoghue, researchers from the Pregnancy Loss Research Group at Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH) and University College Cork are examining services and supports in Ireland for women/couples who experience recurrent miscarriage as part of efforts to standardise and improve services across the country.

Working as part of the Health Research Board-funded RE:CURRENT (Recurrent miscarriage: Evaluating CURRENT services) Project, the research team would like to hear from women/couples about their care experiences. If you/your partner have had two or more consecutive first-trimester miscarriages and received care for these in Ireland during the last ten years and would like more information about how to take part, please visit https://tinyurl.com/recurrentcaresurvey.

Jennifer Ui Dhubhgain has three young children and lost six babies on her journey to completing her family. Through her work with the Miscarriage Association of Ireland, she supports women and men who have experienced pregnancy loss. Speaking about the RE:CURRENT Project Jennifer said, “Recurrent pregnancy loss takes not only a physical toll but also an emotional and mental toll on those who go through it, this can be compounded by services that can be lacking in certain areas. My hope, and belief now having been a part of and seen the process, is that the RE:CURRENT Project can have a huge positive impact on services nationally by improving the quality of care provided to those who experience recurrent miscarriage. This survey allows both women and men to share their experience. It gives them the opportunity to have their voices heard, to have their say, and to play a part in making a difference and bringing about the positive changes we all want to see within our maternity services.”

Con Lucey is a father of three children who has experienced nine miscarriages over the last seven years and is a Parent Advocate on the RE:CURRENT Project. Con is encouraging men who have been affected by recurrent miscarriage to share their experiences by completing the survey: “I am extremely happy to be involved in such a worthwhile project. I feel that this work will improve care & services and make a profound difference. Recurrent miscarriage is a horrible journey to travel, a sense of feeling lost on the way. I feel that any support or improvements for men to help themselves and their partners would be very beneficial.”

Findings from interviews conducted last year with over 60 stakeholders, including healthcare and allied health professionals, representatives from advocacy and support organisations, those involved in the administration, governance and management of maternity services, and women and men who have experienced recurrent miscarriage were used to develop the RE:CURRENT care experience survey.

According to Professor O’Donoghue, “working with stakeholders is a key feature of the RE:CURRENT Project. Parent advocates and support group representatives are involved in each aspect of the project, including the development of this survey. We are keen to ensure that through this survey we capture the experiences of as many women/partners as possible to ensure that their needs inform service improvements.”

The research team has also reviewed international guidelines for recurrent miscarriage and developed care quality indicators that will be used to evaluate services within the 19 maternity units/hospitals in Ireland over the coming weeks. Through the care experience survey and the service evaluation, the team is also investigating the costs and benefits of different models of care for recurrent miscarriage.

Further information for editors:

The RE:CURRENT Project Team comprises Professor Keelin O’Donoghue (PI), Dr Rebecca Dennehy, Dr Caragh Flannery and Marita Hennessy PhD (Postdoctoral Researchers).

Pregnancy Loss Research Group: Led by Professor Keelin O’Donoghue, Senior Lecturer and Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, the Pregnancy Loss Research Group was established in Cork University Maternity Hospital in 2012. The research group includes obstetricians, midwives, nurses, social workers, social scientists, epidemiologists, service users, perinatal pathologists, chaplains, educators, researchers, PhD, postgraduate and undergraduate students. The Group studies the lived experiences of men and women who have experienced all aspects of pregnancy loss, including miscarriage. It aims to advance the services offered to these parents by improving the understanding and awareness of the consequences of pregnancy loss amongst healthcare professionals and among the general population. Website: https://www.ucc.ie/en/obsgyn/plrg/

INFANT: The Irish Centre for Maternal and Child Health Research (INFANT) at University College Cork is Ireland’s first translational research centre focused entirely on pregnancy, birth and early childhood. Co-located at UCC, CUH and CUMH, INFANT has a local impact with a global reach. The centre is answering the international need for research and innovation to improve health outcomes for mothers and babies.

Resources for parents, families, health professionals, and anyone who needs information and support about pregnancy and/or infant loss:

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Website: www.pregnancyandinfantloss.ie

Cork Miscarriage Website: www.CorkMiscarriage.com. This is a valuable resource for parents who experience pregnancy loss or perinatal death. The website provides accurate and accessible information on a sensitive and often stigmatised subject, shares the latest research into the causes of baby loss, promotes emotional well-being, and offers details on how to access the appropriate support services.

Féileacáin (Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Association of Ireland – SANDAI) was formed by a group of bereaved parents to offer support to anyone affected by the death of a baby around the time of birth, and the organisation is now the national charity supporting families affected by perinatal loss. Website: https://feileacain.ie/

The Miscarriage Association of Ireland, a charitable body set up by and with the support of women and men who have experienced the loss of a baby through miscarriage. Website: http://www.miscarriage.ie/

A Little Lifetime Foundation’s aim is to provide information, services and support based on other bereaved parents’ and families’ experiences. Website: https://alittlelifetime.ie/

For interviews contact: Tara O’Leary: tara.oleary@ucc.ie. *Photographs can be made available by the team.

INFANT Seminar Series 2021/22: Dr Sophie Casey Presents ‘Inflammation Driven Molecular Alterations in Disorders of the Perinatal Brain’

INFANT Seminar Series 2021/22: Dr Sophie Casey Presents ‘Inflammation Driven Molecular Alterations in Disorders of the Perinatal Brain’

By Comms|2021-09-23T16:24:10+01:00September 21st, 2021|

In our first seminar of the new academic year, Dr Sophie Casey will present ‘Inflammation Driven Molecular Alterations in Disorders of the Perinatal Brain’ on 24th September at 12pm.

Synopsis

Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy and Autism Spectrum Disorder are time sensitive and have narrow therapeutic windows of opportunity. Despite this, diagnosis is typically performed too late to beneficially inform clinical and therapeutic decision making and is often subjective or unavailable due to injury severity or socioeconomic factors. Neonates who are diagnosed with these disorders often receive treatment too late to confer beneficial levels of protection, or treatment is inappropriate.

HIE and ASD are linked by inflammation and the involvement of inflammatory markers which may offer promising biomarker and/or therapeutic candidates.

Harnessing gaming technology to assess brain development in young children: Liltoda grows from cutting edge research in the INFANT centre, UCC.

Harnessing gaming technology to assess brain development in young children: Liltoda grows from cutting edge research in the INFANT centre, UCC.

By Comms|2021-09-23T11:20:43+01:00September 1st, 2021|

New technology to support non-verbal assessment of infants & young children.

31^st August 2021: A new UCC spin out company, Liltoda Ltd, launched today. Liltoda will focus on harnessing the power of gaming technology for the early detection of infant brain injury. The Liltoda team aim to create a sea change in the assessment of brain development in young children. The company is the direct result of an ongoing collaboration between Ireland’s world-class Maternal and Child Health research centre, the INFANT centre, and global gaming company, Hello Games.

Since 2014 Deirdre Murray, Professor of Paediatrics in UCC, and her brother Sean Murray, Founder and Managing Director of Hello Games, have worked together to study the ability of young infants to interact with touchscreen technology. The responsive nature of touchscreen tablets allows young children aged 18 months onwards to interact and solve puzzles without the need for language. Traditionally, cognitive ability in very young children is assessed based on the surrogate markers of developmental milestones. Parents can easily track a child’s speech and motor skills, but tracking their child’s thinking skills and problem solving ability is much more difficult. For this reason many children with learning difficulties are not detected before starting school. Children often have years of struggling at school before their difficulties come to light. Traditional tests such as Bayley’s Scales, were developed in the 1950s, based on observation of children’s play and development of the time. This widely-used method to measure cognitive, language, and motor skills takes over an hour to complete with an infant, requires a specially trained professional and relies heavily on a child’s ability to understand verbal instructions. As a result, an infant with poor or late developing language skills, or with hearing difficulties or a child whose mother tongue is not English, will perform poorly. Children from minority groups are therefore disadvantaged from early on.

“Children’s brains grow and develop rapidly in the first few years of life. Their ability to learn about the world around them and to quickly solve problems and learn new skills is fascinating to watch, but up to now has been difficult to measure. Most of our tests depend on the use of language to explain and to observe a child’s responses across a number of tests. If a child speaks a different language, or has no language at all, they are very difficult to assess. The beauty of this application is the child is engaged and self-motivated to complete the tasks, without any instruction from us. This new technology which can be deployed on a tablet interface or similar screen, without verbal instruction and will accurately assess a child’s ability to problem solve and complete complex tasks in just 15-20 minutes,” said Prof. Deirdre Murray, principal investigator with the INFANT Research Centre, UCC.

“This means that children with learning difficulties who are currently “missed” as they do not have access to a trained psychologist can be identified at a much earlier stage so that intervention and investigation can start in time to help them to reach their full potential”.

The programming expertise of Hello Games has allowed them to develop assessments that are engaging and age appropriate for toddlers from 18 months onwards. The app, which will be used by trained health care staff, has been six years in development and has already been piloted to test cognitive skills in over 400 infants. Hello Games co-founder and managing director, Sean Murray said,

“It’s exciting to see how technology we have developed at Hello Games can really improve diagnostics for brain development. As gaming developers, we understand intuitive paths, visual interfaces and the natural skills required to process information through technology. To see this technology that we have developed with INFANT being used to help infants and young children is really rewarding, and we are confident that using this technology is a better way to test for cognitive ability in young children, yielding conclusive results and creating a better experience for the infant.”

Head of UCC College of Medicine and Health, Prof. Helen Whelton, commented;

“Litolda is a fantastic example of the potential of clinical research to directly improve health care. INFANT have taken a multi-disciplinary approach combining engineering, neuroscience, gaming, psychology and clinical insights to develop a ground-breaking new platform to help assessments of child development. Litolda will provide the pathway to translate this into direct clinical use as well as driving economic impact as an exciting digital health start-up”

INFANT Research Centre UCC, Director, Prof. Geraldine Boylan welcomed the announcement stating,

“I am delighted that this new industry partnership between INFANT and Hello Games is underway. INFANT now works with over 40 companies in many different sectors and it is very exciting that we are now working with a young “indie” company in the gaming world to explore how gaming developers and their skills can be deployed to develop smart, and clinically useful tests to help child development. This is a perfect example of one of INFANT’s key differentiators, combing clinical insights, engineering and collaboration across different fields and stakeholder groups to develop an innovation that can be deployed to improve outcomes for children’

Prototype applications have already been tested in children from Ireland, Sweden, UK, Gambia and Qatar and this work has led to licencing of software from both UCC and Hello Games for the development of the CogniToT® application.

Mike Cunneen CTO of Liltoda adds “Academic researchers from around the world have been contacting us to ask to use this tool. Launching the CogniToT® application through Liltoda will allow us to create an interface for researchers, psychologists and paediatricians to access this technology seamlessly so that we can reach many more children, whatever their geographical location. We believe that infant cognitive assessment will change dramatically in the next 5-10 years and Liltoda aims to be at the forefront of this new era. Earlier detection of problems will open up many new possibilities for early intervention and early brain protection”. The next step for the company will be the development of homebased remote assessment whereby children from any corner of the globe can be assessed by secure video link and downloadable applications.

There is also rich potential in CogniToT® being a new digital health tool to support electronic clinical trial management tracking outcomes in trial interventions where development markers need to be assessed at scale and across multiple sites and countries or in post-mark surveillance of any therapies that may influence brain development.

Interim Director Innovation at UCC, Dr. Sally Cudmore added;

‘It is imperative that first-class research is commercialised in order to realise beneficial impact for society. UCC Innovation has played a key role in the launch of this new UCC spin out, Liltoda Ltd, which has developed technology to assess cognitive development in infants, allowing earlier interventions when needed. I am delighted to see the establishment of this innovative company, and the transition of their state-of-the-art technology into a commercial reality with endless possibilities for growth and expansion’’

For more information please visit https://www.liltoda.ie/ or https://www.infantcentre.ie. Please contact Tara O’Leary communications College of Medicine and Health on 0858077849 or email tara.oleary@ucc.ie for more information.

ENDS

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