Shining light on the newborn brain

For over 30 years, cerebral haemodynamics and oxygenation in the newborn brain has been studied using near-infrared spectroscopy. The technology has advanced considerably over the years; this article reviews some of these developments and highlights the work of neoLAB, a collaborative group of clinicians, engineers and scientists at University College London and Cambridge. neoLAB is based in the Evelyn Perinatal Imaging Centre, a unique newborn functional brain imaging facility at the Rosie Hospital, Cambridge, which contains an infant scanning room, physics laboratory and a recently installed magnetic resonance imaging scanner.