Automated Visualization and Quantification of Spiral Artery Blood Flow Entering the First-Trimester Placenta, Using 3-D Power Doppler Ultrasound

The goal of our research was to quantify the placental vascularity in 3-D at 11 –13 + 6 wk of pregnancy at precise distances from the utero-placental interface (UPI) using 3-D power Doppler ultrasound. With this automated image analysis technique, differences in vascularity between normal and pathologic pregnancies may be observed. The algorithm was validated using a co mputer-generated image phantom and applied retrospectively in 143 patients. The following features from the PD data were recorded: The number of spiral artery jets into the inter-villous space, total geometric and PD area.

Source: Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology - January 2, 2018 Category: Radiology Authors: Gordon N. Stevenson, J. Alison Noble, Alec W. Welsh, Lawrence Impey, Sally L. Collins Tags: Original Contribution Source Type: research