495 - Feasibility and success of an MRI training protocol in 7-year-old children from rural/semi-rural Colombian communities

Poster Number: 495
Publication Number: 495.286

Background: Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a safe and important diagnostic imaging tool for pediatric clinical care and research. Barnea-Goraly et al. (2014) demonstrated success using a novel low-cost MRI training protocol among children in the United States; however, there remain significant gaps successfully implementing unsedated brain MRI in low-resource international healthcare settings. Developing and adapting a low-cost protocol for use in low- and middle-income countries is crucial for ensuring feasibility of global health pediatric MRI research.

Objective: To assess the success of a novel, low-cost, and rapid training protocol for unsedated child MRIs in 7-year-old children in low-income rural and semi-rural regions of Colombia.

Design/Methods: Fifty-seven Colombian children in a neurodevelopment study (Mulkey et al., 2023) underwent group MRI training in preparation for unsedated scans. All children resided in Colombia’s lowest socioeconomic stratum in rural/semi-rural towns of Atlántico Department. Researchers demonstrated the scanning process using a Playmobil radiology toy. A collapsible play tunnel served as a mock MRI scanner and simulated the scanning environment; children practiced lying still in the tunnel as a dishware container modeled a head coil and child-sized headphones familiarized them with MRI noises. Children received a customized book with photos of a child undergoing an MRI at the local site and culturally relevant references. On their MRI day, children traveled to the MRI site together, were given lunch and waited in a family friendly area separate from clinical patients. Hesitant children were permitted to watch peers and/or have a parent in the MRI room with them. The 40 minute MRI protocol included resting state functional and structural images. After completing the MRI, children received a prize to take home including an instant-print photo of them in the MRI suite.

Results: Children were a mean (SD) age of 7.2 (.2) years when completing their MRIs. Training occurred at a mean (SD) of 43 (42) days before MRI completion (range: 6-229 days; median: 37). Fifty-one (89%) children successfully completed the MRI. The training supplies, excluding custom books, cost less than $100 USD.

Conclusion(s): Children from a low-resource setting in Colombia demonstrated similar or greater success in unsedated MRIs after group training as compared to healthy similar-aged children in the United States.(Barnea-Goraly et al., 2014; Woodward et al., 2023) These methods, including peer-modeling, can promote unsedated MRI success in low resource and international settings.