Mapping Placenta Structure and Function with Low-Field MRI

Placental MRI is emerging as a promising adjunct to ultrasound during pregnancy. Low field MRI is appealing for multiple reasons and can support the widespread roll out of placental MRI. Here we provide a proof-of-concept that a quantitative placental imaging technique that has been demonstrated at high-field (1.5T / 3T) – combined T2*-diffusion MRI – is also viable at low field (0.55T). We highlight similarities and differences in low-field maps compared to the current state-of-the-art high-field maps and highlight key areas for future work to realise the potential of low-field placental quantitative MRI during pregnancy.