A Washington University pediatrician at St. Louis Children’s Hospital has found that performing MRI scans on pre-term infants’ brains assists dramatically in predicting the babies future developmental outcomes. Doctor Terrie Inder is among a group of physicians who found the scans were able to determine abnormalities in the white matter and gray matter of the brains. She says this helps doctors and parents determine a course of treatment if any problems exist. Doctor Inder says this technology has been available for a long time, but it was believed babies would not hold still long enough for MRI scans to be done safely. She says the scans can be done safely once the babies have been fed and put to sleep, resulting in great looking brain images.