“…However, obtaining MRI scans in critically ill newborns, is logistically challenging, expensive and not widely available. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) might prove to be an attractive alternative (Ancora et al, 2009, 2011; Grant et al, 2009; Gucuyener et al, 2012; Toet et al, 2006; Toet and Lemmers, 2009; Wolfberg and du Plessis, 2006), as it permits continuous bedside monitoring of cerebral hemodynamics and oxygenation, by measuring changes in the concentration of oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin (Marin and Moore, 2011; Meek et al, 1999; Pellicer and del Carmen Bravo, 2011; Soul and du Plessis, 1999; Wyatt, 1993). It thus does not provide direct measurement of CBF in different brain regions, but records regional mixed venous saturation (SctO2), which are representative of oxygen supply/demand ratio.…”