In-silico modelling of placental T2* MRI: impact of oxygenation and villous architecture
Motivation: Significant T2* changes appear in dysfunctional placentas, but the drivers remain unclear, underscoring the need for non-invasive tools to distinguish structural and functional factors. Goal(s): To develop a realistic in-silico simulation pipeline that assesses the impact of villous structure and oxygenation changes on placental T2*. Approach: We use in-silico placental models with realistic structures, varying oxygen saturation and tissue volumes, to calculate magnetic field shifts and generate voxel-specific T2* maps. Results: Simulated placental T2*, consistent with in vivo data, show that hypoxia lowers T2*, especially at lower tissue volumes. Similar mean T2* for healthy and FGR vasculatures but FGR shows greater voxel-wise variability. Impact: The simulation of placental T2* in realistic fetoplacental vasculatures disentangles oxygen/vascular abnormalities and their effects on placental function. By integrating structural and oxygen dynamics, we aim to improve early detection and understanding of placental dysfunction, thereby facilitating treatment.
Authors
- Josephine H. Naish (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8980-8924)
- Avery Pennington (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1179-4243)
- Joanna L. James (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3757-4177)
- Rebecca J. Shipley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2818-6228)
- Alys R. Clark (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5908-2862)
- Diana Oliveira (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9409-3276)
- Daniel C. Alexander (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2439-350X)
- Paddy J. Slator (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6967-989X)
- Jana Hutter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3476-3500)
- Kate Duhig (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9176-5671)
- Kelly Payette (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7041-0150)
- Michele C. Darrow (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6259-1684)
- Alexander E. P. Heazell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4303-7845)
- Joseph V. Hajnal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2690-5495)
- Lisa Story (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9328-9592)
- Gowsihan Poologasundarampillai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8498-323X)
- Z. Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-9761-573X)
- Dolapo Adebo
- Sam Kersley
Publication Details
- Journal
- Proceedings on CD-ROM - International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. Scientific Meeting and Exhibition/Proceedings of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Scientific Meeting and Exhibition
- Published
- 2025-09-16
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.58530/2025/4972
- Primary Topic
- MRI in cancer diagnosis
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00