Neonatal research

Study Name 

Aim  

Recruitment  

Babies in Glasses 

To test the feasibility of conducting a randomized controlled trial for a simple and safe early intervention, namely spectacles for near vision, for a group of children at high risk of developing CVI: children born preterm <29 weeks and children who have suffered hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE).

1. All term infants undergoing therapeutic hypothermia for HIE and part of the formal UCLH neurodevelopmental follow up programme.

2. All preterm infants born at <29 weeks’ gestational age and are part of the formal UCLH neurodevelopmental follow up programme.

To assess the effect of SHP607 (mecasermin rinfabate) on reducing chronic lung disease (CLD) in preterm infants. This is a phase 2b multicentre, randomised 3 arm study.

Infants born between 23+0 and 27+6 weeks of gestational age

Brain activity 

To understand how the neonatal brain matures and handles information. The brain of a baby -especially if premature - is not just a scaled down version of an adult brain, but has functions that are only present at this early stage of life. Therefore, we need to understand how the brain processes and is affected by the environment around the baby (whether in a positive or negative way). This can help us understand, for example, how neonates perceive pain or how we can better protect brain development.

Most babies over 28 weeks corrected gestational age are eligible to undergo a research brain recording, which is completely safe and painless. Sometimes we time our brain recordings to coincide with a necessary blood test. Occasionally babies require brain recordings for clinical reasons (not for research), and in those instances we may ask permission to use those clinical data for research purposes.

Neolight 

To develop a brain tissue optical biomarker for early stratification of injury and prediction of outcome following neonatal encephalopathy

All newborn infants with evidence of neonatal encephalopathy

To investigate the impact of seizures on newborn brain in real time and on the long-term neurodevelopmental outcome

All newborn infants prone to developing seizures or with suspected seizures

BRENS study 

To optimise an optical methodology for non-invasive brain tissue temperature measurement and investigate whether brain temperature is raised during neonatal seizures. 

All infants with neonatal seizures

Optical functional activation study 

To assess the impact of perinatal brain injury on subsequent neuronal activation and assess the feasibility of developing a clinical biomarker of outcome

Infants with suspected or evidence of perinatal brain injury, and a cohort of healthy infants without evidence of brain injury