Quantitative Functional Biomarkers of Cervical Remodeling During Pregnancy Using Ultrasound Imaging

At a Glance

Preterm birth affects 15 million babies worldwide every year, including ten percent of babies born in Wisconsin. Spontaneous preterm birth can occur when the cervix softens too early into the pregnancy to prepare for birth, and the risk of spontaneous preterm birth can be potentially characterized by changes in cervical vascularity due to increased inflammation. A project led by Ivan Rosado Mendez, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Medical Physics, will investigate the use of ultrasound microvessel imaging (UM) and ultrasound backscatter spectroscopy (UBS) in the study of cervical microvascular remodeling during pregnancy. Although ultimately the goal is to implement UMI in vivo, this project will first design, fabricate, and characterize a tissue-mimicking model to validate the use of UMI and UBS, as well as test the feasibility of the simultaneous use of UMI/UBS by assessing the accuracy of the images. If successful, this technology will contribute to clinicians’ knowledge with in-depth and objective information about important mechanisms surrounding preterm and at-term birth and inform future approaches and interventions for preventing preterm birth.