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Estimation of prenatal aorta intima-media thickness from ultrasound examination
E Veronese1, G Tarroni, S Visentin
1Department of Information Engineering, University of Padova, Via Gradenigo 6/b,35100 Padova, Italy.
Insights
A new automatic algorithm accurately measures fetal abdominal aorta intima-media thickness (aIMT) from ultrasound scans. This tool aids in early detection of cardiovascular disease risk factors in newborns, improving upon manual measurement variability.
Area of Science:
- Medical imaging analysis
- Fetal cardiology
- Cardiovascular disease research
Background:
- Increased fetal abdominal aorta intima-media thickness (aIMT) is linked to later cardiovascular risk.
- Manual measurement of fetal vessel thickness from ultrasound is subjective and time-consuming.
- A need exists for automated, reliable methods to assess prenatal arterial health.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce an automatic algorithm for analyzing prenatal abdominal aorta ultrasound data.
- To estimate fetal abdominal aorta diameter (aDiam) and intima-media thickness (aIMT).
- To provide a reliable tool for early cardiovascular risk assessment in fetuses.
Main Methods:
- An algorithm was developed to automatically locate and segment the fetal abdominal aorta in ultrasound images.
- Arterial wall sections were modeled using a Gaussian mixture model to derive aDiam and aIMT.
- Measurements were computed at the end-diastole phase of the cardiac cycle.
Main Results:
- High correlation (0.91) was found between automatic and manual end-diastolic aIMT measurements (0.44-1.10 mm).
- The automatic system achieved a mean relative error of 19%, comparable to intra-observer variability (14%).
- The system demonstrated significantly lower variability than inter-observer measurements (42%).
Conclusions:
- The proposed automatic system reliably estimates fetal abdominal aorta aIMT from ultrasound data.
- This automated approach reduces measurement variability compared to manual methods.
- The algorithm offers a promising tool for automatic aIMT assessment in prenatal care.
Abstract:
Prenatal events such as intrauterine growth restriction and increased cardiovascular risk in later life have been shown to be associated with an increased intima-media thickness (aIMT) of the abdominal aorta in the fetus. In order to assess and manage atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease risk in adults and children, in recent years the measurement of abdominal and carotid artery thickness has gained a growing appeal. Nevertheless, no computer aided method has been proposed for the analysis of prenatal vessels from ultrasound data, yet. To date, these measurements are being performed manually on ultrasound fetal images by skilled practitioners. The aim of the presented study is to introduce an automatic algorithm that identifies abdominal aorta and estimates its diameter and aIMT from routine third trimester ultrasonographic fetal data.The algorithm locates the aorta, then segments it and, by modeling the arterial wall longitudinal sections by means of a gaussian mixture, derives a set of measures of the aorta diameter (aDiam) and of the intima-media thickness (aIMT). After estimating the cardiac cycle, the mean diameter and the aIMT at the end-diastole phase are computed.Considering the aIMT value for each subject, the correlation between automatic and manual end-diastolic aIMT measurements is 0.91 in a range of values 0.44-1.10 mm, corresponding to both normal and pathological conditions. The automatic system yields a mean relative error of 19%, that is similar to the intra-observer variability (14%) and much lower that the inter-observer variability (42%).The correlation between manual and automatic measurements and the small error confirm the ability of the proposed system to reliably estimate aIMT values in prenatal ultrasound sequences, reducing measurement variability and suggesting that it can be used for an automatic assessment of aIMT.
