HD-DOT bedside brain monitoring in children with congenital heart disease
Official title: DOT for peri-operative neuromonitoring in children with congenital heart disease
Funded at Washington University · NIH-11296423 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A small NIH-funded project will test a portable brain-imaging method to monitor brain function and oxygen use during perioperative care in babies and children with congenital heart disease.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R21 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Washington University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Saint Louis, United States) |
| Project start | August 15, 2026 |
| Project end | July 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $459,175 |
| NIH project number | 1R21HL184316-01 |
| Project ID | NIH-11296423 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are children with congenital heart disease undergoing perioperative procedures who can tolerate bedside neuroimaging.
✕Less likely to help
Very young or medically unstable infants who cannot undergo HD-DOT imaging may not benefit.
What this research studies
This project uses high-density diffuse optical tomography (HD-DOT), a bedside imaging tool, to track brain activity and oxygenation around heart surgeries in young patients. The team will explore how HD-DOT can reveal functional brain connectivity during perioperative care and help understand factors contributing to neurological outcomes. The study is exploratory and aims to establish feasibility and timing of brain changes in the perioperative period. By proving HD-DOT can be used at the bedside, the work could pave the way for better brain-protective strategies in CHD patients.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could enable earlier detection of brain injury risk during surgery and inform strategies to protect brain health in children with CHD.
How similar studies have gone: HD-DOT has shown promise in noninvasively monitoring brain activity, but its use in perioperative pediatric CHD populations is still exploratory.
Where this research is happening
-
Washington University
Saint Louis, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Eggebrecht, Adam Thomas — Washington University
- Study coordinator: Eggebrecht, Adam Thomas
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.