Predicting fetal neurodevelopmental age from ultrasound images

Med Image Comput Comput Assist Interv. 2014;17(Pt 2):260-7. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-10470-6_33.

Abstract

We propose an automated framework for predicting age and neurodevelopmental maturation of a fetus based on 3D ultrasound (US) brain image appearance. A topology-preserving manifold representation of the fetal skull enabled design of bespoke scale-invariant image features. Our regression forest model used these features to learn a mapping from age-related sonographic image patterns to fetal age and development. The Sylvian Fissure was identified as a critical region for accurate age estimation, and restricting the search space to this anatomy improved prediction accuracy on a set of 130 healthy fetuses (error ± 3.8 days; r = 0.98 performing the best current clinical method. Our framework remained robust when applied to a routine clinical population.

MeSH terms

  • Aging / physiology*
  • Algorithms
  • Brain / growth & development*
  • Echoencephalography / methods*
  • Female
  • Gestational Age*
  • Humans
  • Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / methods*
  • Imaging, Three-Dimensional / methods
  • Male
  • Multimodal Imaging / methods*
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Ultrasonography, Prenatal / methods*