title: Quantitative Analysis of the Cervical Texture by Ultrasound and Correlation with Gestational Age.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Quantitative texture analysis has been proposed to extract robust features from the ultrasound image to detect subtle changes in the textures of the images. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of quantitative cervical texture analysis to assess cervical tissue changes throughout pregnancy.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a cross-sectional study including singleton pregnancies between 20.0 and 41.6 weeks of gestation from women who delivered at term. Cervical length was measured, and a selected region of interest in the cervix was delineated. A model to predict gestational age based on features extracted from cervical images was developed following three steps: data splitting, feature transformation, and regression model computation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seven hundred images, 30 per gestational week, were included for analysis. There was a strong correlation between the gestational age at which the images were obtained and the estimated gestational age by quantitative analysis of the cervical texture (R = 0.88).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provides evidence that quantitative analysis of cervical texture can extract features from cervical ultrasound images which correlate with gestational age. Further research is needed to evaluate its applicability as a biomarker of the risk of spontaneous preterm birth, as well as its role in cervical assessment in other clinical situations in which cervical evaluation might be relevant.
authors: BCNatal - Barcelona Center for Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine (Hospital Clínic and Hospital Sant Joan de Déu), Fetal i+D Fetal Medicine Research Center, IDIBAPS, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Núria
authors: N
authors: Baños
authors: Alvaro
authors: A
authors: Perez-Moreno
authors: Federico
authors: F
authors: Migliorelli
authors: Laura
authors: L
authors: Triginer
authors: Teresa
authors: T
authors: Cobo
authors: Elisenda
authors: E
authors: Bonet-Carne
authors: Eduard
authors: E
authors: Gratacos
authors: Montse
authors: M
authors: Palacio
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third
keywords: Image biomarker; Quantitative ultrasound; Uterine cervix