Automatic measurement of head-perineum distance during intrapartum ultrasound: description of the technique and preliminary results

Abstract

Objectives

To evaluate the accuracy and reliability of a new ultrasound technique for the automatic assessment of the head-perineum distance (HPD) during childbirth.

Methods

HPD was measured on a total of 40 acquisition sessions in 30 laboring women both automatically by an innovative algorithm and manually by trained sonographers, assumed as gold standard.

Results

A significant correlation was found between manual and automatic measurements (Intra-CC = 0.994). High values of the coefficient of determination (r²=0.98) and low residual errors: RMSE = 2.01 mm (4.9%) were found.

Conclusion

The automatic algorithm for the assessment of the HPD represents a reliable technique.

Keywords:

• Intrapartum ultrasound
• head-perineum distance
• transperineal ultrasound
• automatic measurement
• medical decision support
• ultrasonic imaging

Ethical approval

The research was conducted ethically in accordance with the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki.

Disclosure statement

F. Conversano, M. Di Paola, and S. Casciaro are shareholders of Amolab S.R.L., a National Research Council Spin-off company that may or may not benefit from the results of this study. No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).