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Updated: Jul 11, 2025
Three-dimensional Rendering and Analysis of Immunolabeled, Clarified Human Placental Villous Vascular Networks
Published on: March 29, 2018
Non-invasive mapping of human placenta microenvironments throughout pregnancy with diffusion-relaxation MRI
Paddy J Slator1, Daniel Cromb2, Laurence H Jackson3
1Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre, School of Psychology, Maindy Road, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ, UK; School of Computer Science and Informatics, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK; Centre for Medical Image Computing and Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, UK.
Introduction:
In-vivo measurements of placental structure and function have the potential to improve prediction, diagnosis, and treatment planning for a wide range of pregnancy complications, such as fetal growth restriction and pre-eclampsia, and hence inform clinical decision making, ultimately improving patient outcomes. MRI is emerging as a technique with increased sensitivity to placental structure and function compared to the current clinical standard, ultrasound.
Methods:
We demonstrate and evaluate a combined diffusion-relaxation MRI acquisition and analysis pipeline on a sizable cohort of 78 normal pregnancies with gestational ages ranging from 15 + 5 to 38 + 4 weeks. Our acquisition comprises a combined T2*-diffusion MRI acquisition sequence - which is simultaneously sensitive to oxygenation, microstructure and microcirculation. We analyse our scans with a data-driven unsupervised machine learning technique, InSpect, that parsimoniously identifies distinct components in the data.
Results:
We identify and map seven potential placental microenvironments and reveal detailed insights into multiple microstructural and microcirculatory features of the placenta, and assess their trends across gestation.
Discussion:
By demonstrating direct observation of micro-scale placental structure and function, and revealing clear trends across pregnancy, our work contributes towards the development of robust imaging biomarkers for pregnancy complications and the ultimate goal of a normative model of placental development.
