Researchers at the Rosie Maternity Hospital, in Cambridge say they are the first in the world to trial a new technique that could speed up diagnosis and care for children with conditions such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy and learning difficulties.

It could be available in UK hospitals within the decade.

Prof Topun Austin is a consultant neonatologist and director of the Cambridge University Hospital’s Evelyn Perinatal Imaging Centre. His research focuses on brain treatments at the extremes of life – young and old.

He explains: “The Fusion study aims to develop and demonstrate a system for the cot-side assessment of brain activity in newborn infants and is currently the first of its kind in the world.

“We have spent 12 months successfully proving the concept with the help of healthy and premature babies and will now focus on babies considered to be at higher risk of brain damage.

“Understanding brain activity patterns in both term and preterm infants can help us identify those most vulnerable to injury at an early stage.”

HRC Co-director Dr Alexis Joannides believes it could have several advantages over the traditional MRI,(magnetic resonance imaging) or CUS,(cranial ultrasound) scans.

“MRI has limitations for two reasons: one is the cost and availability of scan slots,” he explains.

“The other is that you have to take the baby to a noisy scanner, wait maybe 20 minutes for the scan and then take the baby back again.

“It means, realistically, you can’t perform a series of scans, but in those first weeks, the brain can change daily so having a way of doing repeated tests is incredibly powerful.”

“We still have hurdles to overcome, but we hope, within three to five years we’ll have a product that can be evaluated more widely,” he says.

“Cost permitting, it could not only monitor babies with a known problem, but also be a screening tool to help identify others who may be at risk.”

The Health tech research centre has funded a researcher for the study and will lend its expertise to help roll out the device across the NHS, should it prove successful.