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Estimation of Shear Wave Speed in the Rhesus Macaques' Uterine Cervix.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Huang, B; Drehfal, LC; Rosado-Mendez, IM; Guerrero, QW; Palmeri, ML; Simmons, HA; Feltovich, H; Hall, TJ
Published in: IEEE transactions on ultrasonics, ferroelectrics, and frequency control
September 2016

Cervical softness is a critical parameter in pregnancy. Clinically, preterm birth is associated with premature cervical softening and postdates birth is associated with delayed cervical softening. In practice, the assessment of softness is subjective, based on digital examination. Fortunately, objective, quantitative techniques to assess softness, and other parameters associated with microstructural cervical change are emerging. One of these is shear wave speed (SWS) estimation. In principle, this allows objective characterization of stiffness because waves travel more slowly in softer tissue. We are studying SWS in humans and rhesus macaques, the latter in order to accelerate translation from bench to bedside. For the current study, we estimated SWS in ex vivo cervices of rhesus macaques, n=24 nulliparous (never given birth) and n=9 multiparous (delivered at least one baby). Misoprostol (a prostaglandin used to soften human cervices prior to gynecological procedures) was administered to 13 macaques prior to necropsy (nulliparous: 7; multiparous: 6). SWS measurements were made at predetermined locations from the distal to proximal end of the cervix on both the anterior and posterior cervix, with five repeat measures at each location. The intent was to explore macaque cervical microstructure, including biological and spatial variability, to elucidate the similarities and differences between the macaque and the human cervix in order to facilitate future in vivo studies. We found that SWS is dependent on location in the normal nonpregnant macaque cervix, as in the human cervix. Unlike the human cervix, we detected no difference between ripened and unripened rhesus macaque cervix samples, nor nulliparous versus multiparous samples, although we observed a trend toward stiffer tissue in nulliparous samples. We found rhesus macaque cervix to be much stiffer than human, which is important for technique refinement. These findings are useful for guiding study of cervical microstructure in both humans and macaques.

Duke Scholars

Published In

IEEE transactions on ultrasonics, ferroelectrics, and frequency control

DOI

EISSN

1525-8955

ISSN

0885-3010

Publication Date

September 2016

Volume

63

Issue

9

Start / End Page

1243 / 1252

Related Subject Headings

  • Pregnancy
  • Macaca mulatta
  • Female
  • Elasticity Imaging Techniques
  • Cervix Uteri
  • Animals
  • Acoustics
  • 51 Physical sciences
  • 40 Engineering
  • 09 Engineering
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Huang, B., Drehfal, L. C., Rosado-Mendez, I. M., Guerrero, Q. W., Palmeri, M. L., Simmons, H. A., … Hall, T. J. (2016). Estimation of Shear Wave Speed in the Rhesus Macaques' Uterine Cervix. IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control, 63(9), 1243–1252. https://doi.org/10.1109/tuffc.2016.2524259
Huang, Bin, Lindsey Carlson Drehfal, Ivan M. Rosado-Mendez, Quinton W. Guerrero, Mark L. Palmeri, Heather A. Simmons, Helen Feltovich, and Timothy J. Hall. “Estimation of Shear Wave Speed in the Rhesus Macaques' Uterine Cervix.IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control 63, no. 9 (September 2016): 1243–52. https://doi.org/10.1109/tuffc.2016.2524259.
Huang B, Drehfal LC, Rosado-Mendez IM, Guerrero QW, Palmeri ML, Simmons HA, et al. Estimation of Shear Wave Speed in the Rhesus Macaques' Uterine Cervix. IEEE transactions on ultrasonics, ferroelectrics, and frequency control. 2016 Sep;63(9):1243–52.
Huang, Bin, et al. “Estimation of Shear Wave Speed in the Rhesus Macaques' Uterine Cervix.IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control, vol. 63, no. 9, Sept. 2016, pp. 1243–52. Epmc, doi:10.1109/tuffc.2016.2524259.
Huang B, Drehfal LC, Rosado-Mendez IM, Guerrero QW, Palmeri ML, Simmons HA, Feltovich H, Hall TJ. Estimation of Shear Wave Speed in the Rhesus Macaques' Uterine Cervix. IEEE transactions on ultrasonics, ferroelectrics, and frequency control. 2016 Sep;63(9):1243–1252.

Published In

IEEE transactions on ultrasonics, ferroelectrics, and frequency control

DOI

EISSN

1525-8955

ISSN

0885-3010

Publication Date

September 2016

Volume

63

Issue

9

Start / End Page

1243 / 1252

Related Subject Headings

  • Pregnancy
  • Macaca mulatta
  • Female
  • Elasticity Imaging Techniques
  • Cervix Uteri
  • Animals
  • Acoustics
  • 51 Physical sciences
  • 40 Engineering
  • 09 Engineering