Determining Fetal Orientations From Blind Sweep Ultrasound Video
Journal:
arXiv
Published Date:
Apr 9, 2025
Abstract
Cognitive demands of fetal ultrasound examinations pose unique challenges
among clinicians. With the goal of providing an assistive tool, we developed an
automated pipeline for predicting fetal orientation from ultrasound videos
acquired following a simple blind sweep protocol. Leveraging on a pre-trained
head detection and segmentation model, this is achieved by first determining
the fetal presentation (cephalic or breech) with a template matching approach,
followed by the fetal lie (facing left or right) by analyzing the spatial
distribution of segmented brain anatomies. Evaluation on a dataset of
third-trimester ultrasound scans demonstrated the promising accuracy of our
pipeline. This work distinguishes itself by introducing automated fetal lie
prediction and by proposing an assistive paradigm that augments sonographer
expertise rather than replacing it. Future research will focus on enhancing
acquisition efficiency, and exploring real-time clinical integration to improve
workflow and support for obstetric clinicians.
