Slator, Paddy J;
Cromb, Daniel;
Jackson, Laurence H;
Ho, Alison;
Counsell, Serena J;
Story, Lisa;
Chappell, Lucy C;
... Alexander, Daniel C; + view all
(2023)
Non-invasive mapping of human placenta microenvironments throughout pregnancy with diffusion-relaxation MRI.
Placenta
, 144
pp. 29-37.
10.1016/j.placenta.2023.11.002.
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Abstract
INTRODUCTION: In-vivo measurements of placental structure and function have the potential to improve prediction, diagnosis, and treatment planning for a wide range of pregnancy complications, such as fetal growth restriction and pre-eclampsia, and hence inform clinical decision making, ultimately improving patient outcomes. MRI is emerging as a technique with increased sensitivity to placental structure and function compared to the current clinical standard, ultrasound. METHODS: We demonstrate and evaluate a combined diffusion-relaxation MRI acquisition and analysis pipeline on a sizable cohort of 78 normal pregnancies with gestational ages ranging from 15 + 5 to 38 + 4 weeks. Our acquisition comprises a combined T2*-diffusion MRI acquisition sequence - which is simultaneously sensitive to oxygenation, microstructure and microcirculation. We analyse our scans with a data-driven unsupervised machine learning technique, InSpect, that parsimoniously identifies distinct components in the data. RESULTS: We identify and map seven potential placental microenvironments and reveal detailed insights into multiple microstructural and microcirculatory features of the placenta, and assess their trends across gestation. DISCUSSION: By demonstrating direct observation of micro-scale placental structure and function, and revealing clear trends across pregnancy, our work contributes towards the development of robust imaging biomarkers for pregnancy complications and the ultimate goal of a normative model of placental development.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Non-invasive mapping of human placenta microenvironments throughout pregnancy with diffusion-relaxation MRI |
| Location: | Netherlands |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.placenta.2023.11.002 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.placenta.2023.11.002 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
| Keywords: | Diffusion MRI, Diffusion-relaxation MRI, Placenta, Unsupervised learning |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Computer Science |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10181634 |
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