Research

Tiny Tickers supports focussed research on congenital heart disease (CHD) that will increase early detection and improve outcomes for babies.

Today’s high-quality heart surgery ensures good short-term outcomes from operations, but the priority for parents is long-term quality of life for “heart babies”.

It is known that some heart babies suffer delays in developing skills, so we are supporting research into the important association of CHD and brain development using ultrasound and MRI spectroscopy. 

High resolution MRI provides complementary information to ultrasound scans, plus information about metabolic processes, and provides new insights into detection and timing of brain damage.  With this information it may be possible to reduce or prevent brain damage occurring to babies with CHD.