Enhancing Understanding and Interpretation of Ultrasound Images: A Tool for Fetal Congenital Heart Diseases

This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy and efficiency of using a modeling tool named uSketch for generating patient-specific diagrams in cases of fetal congenital heart disease (CHD). Furthermore, it sought to explore the feasibility of employing uSketch to improve communication efficacy across diverse clinical settings. uSketch successfully produced matched diagrams for 941 cases (98.4%) by single-click, semi-automatic, or manual methods. The mean time required for diagram generation was significantly shorter with uSketch than that with hand-drawn sketches (0.88 ± 0.58 vs. 6.75 ± 2.95 min, p < 0.05). The expert panel unanimously concluded that uSketch exhibits professional-level capability in generating anatomical schematics for fetal CHD. Families with a CHD fetus receiving uSketch diagrams in addition to textual reports showed significantly higher questionnaire scores compared to those who received textual reports alone (p < 0.05). The questionnaire scores of medical students who utilized uSketch diagrams were significantly higher than those of their peers who employed traditional methods (p < 0.05). In conclusion, uSketch facilitates the generation of anatomical diagrams for fetal CHD. It achieves a remarkable coverage rate of 98.4% by automatic, semi-automatic, or manual methods. The deployment of uSketch can substantially enhance communication effectiveness across various clinical and educational contexts.