Introduction

The patented system can automatically measure the diameter and thickness of the aorta during routine prenatal ultrasound screening, in order to evaluate the risk of arteriosclerosis before birth. An increased thickness of the aorta is a fundamental marker of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, associated with low birth weight.

Technical features

Babies with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) show an increase in the thickness of the aorta. It is associated with a greater risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Currently the measurement of the thickness and of the diameter of the aorta are carried out manually by clinicians that record the measurements during the end-diastolic cardiac phase. The accuracy of the measurement depends greatly the experience of the operator, meaning that there is great variability between measurements carried out by different operators. This patented invention offers an automatic system capable of accurately measuring the thickness and of the diameter of the aorta during ultrasound examination. It can be inserted within the ultrasound’s program functions.

Possible Applications

• Prenatal diagnostic of cardiovascular disease and diabetes;
• Fetal ultrasound measurement function.

Advantages

• Accurate measurement of fetal aorta thickness;
• Accurate measurement of fetal aorta diameter;
• Eliminates operator variability in measurement.