Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Paediatric MRI Research Ethics: The Priority Issues

  • Review Article
  • Published:
Journal of Bioethical Inquiry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In this paper, we first briefly describe neuroimaging technology, our reasons for studying magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology, and then provide a discussion of what we have identified as priority issues for paediatric MRI research. We examine the issues of respectful involvement of children in the consent process as well as privacy and confidentiality for this group of MRI research participants. In addition, we explore the implications of unexpected findings for paediatric MRI research participants. Finally, we explore the ethical issues concerning advances in functional MRI. This paper aims to provide a clear description of priority paediatric MRI research ethics issues to make some preliminary recommendations regarding next steps.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Illes, J., Desmond, J. E., Huang, L. F., Raffin, T. A., & Atlas, S. W. (2002). Ethical and practical considerations in managing incidental findings in functional magnetic resonance imaging. Brain and Cognition, 50, 358–365.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Gazzaniga, M. S. (ed) (2004). The cognitive neurosciences III. Cambridge (MA): MIT.

  3. Canli, T., & Amin, Z. (2002). Neuroimaging of emotion and personality: Scientific evidence and ethical considerations. Brain and Cognition, 50(3), 414–431.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Tempany, C., & McNeil, B. (2001). Advances in biomedical imaging. JAMA, 285, 562–567.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Moseley, M., Bammer, R., & Illes, J. (2002). Diffusion-tensor imaging of cognitive performance. Brain and Cognition, 50(3), 396–413.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Hinton, V. (2002). Ethics of neuroimaging in pediatric development. Brain and Cognition, 50, 455–468.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Dickens, B. (1998). The legal challenge of health research involving children. Health Law Journal, 6, 131–148 (Special Edition).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. National Council on Bioethics (1993). Report on research involving children. Ottawa.

  9. Barfield, R., & Church, C. (2005). Informed consent in pediatric trials. Current Opinion in Pediatrics, 17, 20–24.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Silverman, W. A. (1980). Non-treatment of defective newborn babies. Lancet, 1(8160), 156.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Aranda, J. V., Clarkson, S., & Collinge, J. M. (1983). Changing pattern of drug utilization in a neonatal intensive care unit. American Journal of Perinatology, 1(1), 28–30.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Miller, P. B., & Kenny, N. P. (2002). Walking the moral tightrope: Respecting and protecting children in health-related research. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, 11(3), 217–29.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Harris, J., & Holm, S. (2003). Should we presume moral turpitude in our children? – small children and consent to medical research. Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics, 24, 121–129.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Moreno, J. (2003). Neuroethics: An agenda for neuroscience and society. Nature Reviews. Neuroscience, 4, 149–153.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Vitello, B. (2005). Research knowledge of parents of children participating in randomized clinical trials. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 44, 145–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Weinfurt, K., Sulmasy, D. P., Schulman, K. A., & Meropol, N. J. (2003). Patient expectations of benefit from phase 1 clinical trials: Linguistic considerations in diagnosing a therapeutic misconception. Theoretical Medicine, 24, 329–344.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) (2005). CIHR Best Practices for protecting privacy in health research. Ottawa: Public Works and Government Services.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Kulynych, J. (2002). Legal and ethical issues in neuroimaging research: human subjects protection, medical privacy, and the public communication of research results. Brain Cognition, 50(3), 345–357.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Yue, N. C, Longstreth, W. T. Jr., Elster, A. D., Jungreis, C. A., O’Leary, D. H., & Poirier, V. C. (1997). Clinically serious abnormalities found incidentally at MR imaging of the brain: Data from the cardiovascular health study. Radiology, 202, 41–46.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Katzman, G. L., Dagher, A. P., & Patronas, N. J. (1999). Incidental findings on brain magnetic resonance imaging from 1000 asymptomatic volunteers. JAMA, 282, 36–39.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Kim, B. S., Illes, J., Kaplan, R. T., Reiss, A., & Atlas, S. W. (2002). Incidental findings on pediatric MR images of the brain. AJNR, 23, 1674–1677.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Illes, J., Kirschen, M. P., Karetsky, K., Kelly, M., Saha, A., Desmond, J. E., et al. (2004). Discovery and disclosure of incidental findings in neuroimaging research. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 20, 743–747.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. (2005) How volunteering for an MRI scan changed my life. Nature, 434, 17.

  24. Phillips, M. (2005). Coping with unsuspected findings in volunteers. Nature, 434, 17.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Bryan, R. N., Manolio, T. A., Schertz, L. D., Jungreis, C., Poirier, V. C., Elster, A. D. et al. (1994). A method for using MR to evaluate the effects of cardiovascular disease on the brain: The cardiovascular health study. AJNR, 15, 1625–1633.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Ramsey, R. G. (2004). Evaluation of incidental findings on MRI of the central nervous system: Part 1. Journal of Insurance Medicine, 36, 167–173.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Ramsey, R. G. (2005). Evaluation of incidental findings on MRI of the central nervous system: Part 2. Journal of Insurance Medicine, 37, 158–165.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Friedrich, M. J. (2005). Neuroscience becomes image conscious as brain scans raise ethical issues. JAMA, 294, 781–783.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Robinson, R. (2004). fMRI beyond the clinic: Will it ever be ready for prime time? PLOS Biology, 2, 715–717.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Rothstein, M. A. (2005). Applications of behavioural genetics: Outpacing the science? Nature Reviews. Genetics, 6, 793–798.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Stevenson, D., & Goldworth, A. (2002). Ethical considerations in neuroimaging and its impact on decision-making for neonates. Brain and Cognition, 50(3), 449–454.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Dehaene-Lambertz, G., Dehaene, S., & Hertz-Pannier, L. (2002). Functional neuroimaging of speech perception in infants. Science, 298, 2013–2015.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Shaywitz, S. E., & Shaywitz, B. A. (2005). Dyslexia (specific reading disability). Biological Psychiatry, 57, 1301–1309.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Konrad, K., Neufang, S., Hanisch, C., Fink, G. R., & Herpertz-Dahlmann, B. (2006). Dysfunctional attentional networks in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: Evidence from an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Biological Psychiatry, 59(7), 643–651.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction (INMHA) of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) for their generous financial support through the Neuroethics New Emerging Team (NET) grant. The authors would also like to thank the following NET members for their thoughtful comments on earlier versions of this paper: Krisztina Malisza, Bryan Magwood, Dickie Yu, Toby Martin, and Deborah Shiloff.

Source of funding

Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health, Addiction (INMHA) of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Neuroethics New Emerging Team (NET) grant.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Health Law Institute, Dalhousie University, 6061 University Avenue, Halifax, NS B3H 4H9, Canada

    Jocelyn Downie, Michael Hadskis & Jennifer Marshall

  2. Department of Diagnostic Imaging, IWK Health Centre, 5850/5980 University Avenue, Halifax, NS B3K 6R8, Canada

    Matthais Schmidt

  3. Department of Bioethics, Dalhousie University, 5849 University Avenue, Halifax, NS B3H 3A7, Canada

    Nuala Kenny

  4. Institute for Biodiagnostics (Atlantic), National Research Council Canada, Suite 3900-1796 Summer St., Halifax, NS B3H 3A7, Canada

    Ryan D’Arcy

Authors
  1. Jocelyn Downie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Matthais Schmidt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Nuala Kenny
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Ryan D’Arcy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Michael Hadskis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Jennifer Marshall
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jocelyn Downie.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Downie, J., Schmidt, M., Kenny, N. et al. Paediatric MRI Research Ethics: The Priority Issues. Bioethical Inquiry 4, 85–91 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-007-9046-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-007-9046-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation