Cervical Characterization with Tactile-Ultrasound Probe

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Obstetrics and Gynecology
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Premature cervical softening and shortening are early mechanical failures linked to preterm birth.
• Cervical elastography shows promise in quantifying cervical changes and predicting spontaneous preterm delivery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore a novel tactile-ultrasound probe for measuring cervix elasticity and length.
• To assess the feasibility and reliability of this new measurement approach.

Main Methods:

• A specialized probe with tactile array and ultrasound transducer was developed.
• The probe applied controllable load to acquire stress-strain data for calculating cervical elasticity (Young's modulus) and length.
• Statistical analyses included average values, standard deviations, intraclass correlation coefficients, and Bland-Altman plots.

Main Results:

• The probe demonstrated reliable data acquisition and real-time ultrasound visualization in pregnant women (25.4 ± 2.3 weeks gestation).
• Average cervical elasticity was 19.7 ± 15.4 kPa and length was 30.7 ± 6.6 mm.
• High repeatability was observed with intraclass correlation coefficients of 0.97 for elasticity and 0.93 for length.

Conclusions:

• The tactile-ultrasound probe exhibited clinically acceptable measurement performance and reproducibility.
• The method successfully computed cervical elasticity and length from stress-strain data.
• This approach holds potential for developing cervical markers to predict spontaneous preterm delivery.