Abstract #3622

Comprehensive assessment of uterine contractility using a large database of dynamic T2* studies

Jordina Aviles Verdera^1,2, Yutong Luo³, Sara Neves Silva^1,2, Sarah McElroy^1,2,4, Hadi Waheed^2,5, Simi Bansal², Raphael Tomi-Tricot^1,2,4, Mary A Rutherford^1,2, Joseph V Hajnal^1,2, and Jana Hutter^1,2,3

¹Imaging Physics and Engineering Research Department, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging, King's College London, London, United Kingdom, ²Early Life Imaging Research Department, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging, King's College London, London, United Kingdom, ³Smart Imaging Lab, Radiologisches Institut, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany, ⁴MR Research Collaborations, Siemens Healthcare Limited, Camberley, United Kingdom, ⁵Elizabeth Garret Anderson Institute for Women's Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom

Synopsis

Keywords: Fetal, Fetal, Low-field, Placenta, Data analysis

Motivation: Uterine contractile activity, crucial for vaginal birth, begins early in gestation. However, its assessment remains limited. T2* relaxometry has been used to detect placental T2* changes during contractions.

Goal(s): Developing an automatic detection system for contractile activity in dynamic T2* uterine scans and explore variations based on gestational age, Body-mass-index (BMI), maternal position, and scan time.

Approach: 470 dynamic fetal MRI scans have been assessed, a threshold established and analyzed.

Results: Contractile activity was observed in 22% of scans, with no correlation to BMI, position, or scan length, but correlation to gestational age. Deviations in means emphasize the need for dynamic T2* capture.

Impact: Uterine contractility assessed during dynamic uterine T2* scans allows novel insights into this phenomenon and paves the way for real-time detection in the future.

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