PPB Partnership with UNC School of Medicine Introduces New AI-powered Gestational Calculator to Pregnant Women in Sierra Leone

 

As a new addition to the maternal health study, Project Peanut Butter has partnered with the University of North Carolina School of Medicine to introduce groundbreaking technology in a space with scarce resources: the AI-powered gestational age calculator.

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According to UNC researchers, this technology can measure gestational age as accurately as a trained professional using a traditional, full-size ultrasound machine, allowing a non-trained sonographer to perform an ultrasound.

Prior to using this new technology, PPB maternal health study midwives relied on the fundal height to estimate the gestational age of the fetus a traditional yet less accurate method, especially in the setting of maternal malnutrition. However, with the introduction of the AI-powered gestational age calculator, nurses are now able to get an accurate picture of a woman’s gestational age and pre-term births. The AI-powered gestational calculator has helped improve the maternal health study because researchers can determine if the specialized food the pregnant woman is consuming is prolonging gestation – meaning, helping her to stay pregnant longer and make it to a full-term birth.

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Before arriving at the Sierra Leone site, PPB Field Research Coordinator Eliza Kleban met with the team at UNC who developed the AI-powered calculator. While there, the team showed her how to use the Butterfly IQ+ and handheld ultrasound probe.

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While Eliza was able to practice using the technology in an ideal setting with someone to guide her in the process, once she reached the clinic in Sierra Leone, she discovered how accurate the technology can be in any setting.

“It was definitely different […] but it was cool to bring in that technology,” she said.

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Eliza is now able to show other novice users how to use the gestational age calculator in a matter of minutes.

While at its core, the technology calculates gestational age, it is also a tool aimed at improving maternal health equity. Regardless of location or resources, a pregnant woman can receive an ultrasound that could lead to faster recognition of clinical care options and, ultimately, save a woman or a baby’s life.  Project Peanut Butter continues to innovate and provide holistic pregnancy care to Save Futures and Save Lives.