Assessment of Infant Brain Development With Frequency-Domain Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

ABSTRACT: This is the first report to demonstrate quantitative monitoring of infant brain development with frequency-domain near-infrared spectroscopy (FD-NIRS). Regionally specific increases in blood volume and oxygen consumption were measured in healthy infants during their first year. The results agree with prior PET and SPECT reports; but, unlike these methods, FD-NIRS is portable and uses nonionizing radiation. Further, new information includes the relatively constant tissue oxygenation with age and location, suggest-ing a tight control between local oxygen delivery and consumption in healthy infants during brain development. FD-NIRS could become the preferred clinical tool for quantitatively assessing infant brain development. (Pediatr Res 61: 546–551, 2007) The rate of growth and development in the first year of lifeis unmatched at any other time during postnatal develop-ment (1). However, with rapid growth comes increased vul-nerability to disorders arising from genetic defects, gen