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News from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
New
High-risk OB at UAMS Observes Campus’s Unique Fetal Exam
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NOV.
29, 2001 | Arkansas’s incoming dean of medicine, a
Philadelphia specialist in high-risk
pregnancy, recently toured an experimental fetal
monitoring facility at the University of Arkansas for
Medical Sciences (UAMS).
E.
Albert Reece, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., the new dean of the
College of Medicine at UAMS, observed the use of the
“SARA,” a unique device for assessing fetal
health.
”I am pleased to see that we have taken the lead in
investigating methods that may effectively evaluate
fetal neurological status in utero. The results
could bring enormous benefit to patients and much
credit and prestige to the College of Medicine at
UAMS,” Dr. Reece commented. Dr. Reece is an
international expert in diabetes and prenatal
diagnosis and therapy. He will become the full-time
dean of the UAMS College of Medicine in January. He is
currently the Abraham Roth Professor and Chairman of
the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and
Reproductive Sciences at Temple University School of
Medicine in Philadelphia.
”The SARA system allows us to view the physiology of
pregnancy in a new and noninvasive way,” Curtis L.
Lowery, M.D., explained. “We believe this device
will be useful in the prediction and management of
premature labor, fetal cardiac disease, and hypoxic
ischemic disease of the fetus.”
The UAMS device uses fetal magnetoencephalography
(MEG) to detect minute magnetic field fluctuations in
the fetus. During the examination, the pregnant woman
sits against a concave shield that covers her abdomen.
More than 100 sensors obtain three-dimensional data
from the fetus and the uterus – without employing
needles or any other invasive instruments. It is the
first instrument for simultaneous recording of
multiple physiologic signals from a woman’s uterus.
MEG technology has been in use for 30 years for adult
brain scans, but UAMS is the first medical center to
adapt the technology for fetuses.
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Hari
Eswaran, Ph.D. (left), and Carl V. Smith, M.D.,
chair of obstetrics and gynecology (right), explain the
SARA to Dr. Reece (center). Curtis L. Lowery, M.D.,
director of the Maternal and Fetal Medicine Division of
the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, developed the
device with a grant from the National Institutes of
Health. Dr.
Eswaran is a research assistant professor at the Graduate
Institute of Technology at the University of Arkansas at
Little Rock. He is collaborating with Dr. Lowery on the
SARA project. (Amy Theriac, UAMS Media Services)
Curtis L. Lowery, M.D., director of maternal and fetal
medicine
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“SARA” is an acronym for Squid Array for Reproductive
Assessment; “squid” is an acronym for super conducting
quantum interference device. Dr. Lowery developed
the SARA with a $4 million grant from the National Institute of
Neurological Disorders and Stroke. He
is director
of the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine of the Department of
Obstetrics and Gynecology in the UAMS College of Medicine. Dr.
Lowery and his colleagues have been experimenting with the SARA
to develop efficient baby check-ups than can catch neurological
and heart problems long before birth. They also hope to use the
SARA to gauge the results of
fetal treatment.
Most neurological damage to fetuses occurs before labor begins,
making pre-term neurological assessments important in high-risk
pregnancies. SARA is the only available non-invasive test for
checking fetal neurological health. (Other tests cannot easily
be used in the fetus due to limited access, potential risk, or
required long scan times.) The SARA can be useful in predicting
premature labor and in managing the use of medications to induce
labor.
Dr. Lowery is collaborating with pediatric specialists to test
the SARA in caring for fetuses with cardiac arrhythmias and in
evaluating neurological activity of newborn infants.
UAMS Medical Center
is home to the only high-risk pregnancy program in Arkansas.
These board certified physicians in maternal-fetal medicine are
trained and experienced in helping high-risk pregnant women
avoid some of the complications associated with a wide range of
diseases or conditions, including diabetes, high blood pressure,
heart disease, asthma, lupus, epilepsy, lung disease, kidney
disease, RH negative blood, herpes, and HIV.
Links
on This Page
UAMS Obstetrician: http://www.uams.edu/today/060701/lowery.htm
UAMS Delivers: http://www.uams.edu/info/pdfs/highrisk.pdf
New Technology: http://www.uams.edu/info/pdfs/fetalmon.pdf
Employee Benefits: http://www.uams.edu/info/pdfs/labor.pdf
High-risk pregnancy program: http://baby.uams.edu/high-risk.htm/
Labor and delivery ward: http://baby.uams.edu/
UAMS Medical Center: http://www.uams.edu/medcenter/
©
2001 University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). A
single copy of these materials may be reprinted for
noncommercial personal use only. “UAMS,” “UAMS Medical
Center,” “UAMS Online,” “UAMS Today,” “uams.edu,”
and “Here’s to Your Health” are marks of UAMS.
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03/29/05 |
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