A Prospective Study of the Use of Fetal Intelligent Navigation Echocardiography (FINE) to Obtain Standard Fetal Echocardiography Views.

Objective: To evaluate the performance of Fetal Intelligent Navigation Echocardiography (FINE) applied to spatiotemporal image correlation (STIC) volume datasets of the normal fetal heart in generating standard fetal echocardiography views. Methods: In this prospective cohort study of patients with normal fetal hearts (19-30 gestational weeks), one or more STIC volume datasets were obtained of the apical four chamber view. Each STIC volume successfully obtained was evaluated by STICLoop (TM) to determine its appropriateness before applying the FINE method. Visualization rates for standard fetal echocardiography views using diagnostic planes and/or Virtual Intelligent Sonographer Assistance (VIS-Assistance (R)) were calculated. Results: One or more STIC volumes (total n = 463) were obtained from 246 patients. A single STIC volume per patient was analyzed using the FINE method. In normal cases, FINE was able to generate nine fetal echocardiography views using: (1) diagnostic planes in 76-100% of the cases, (2) VIS-Assistance (R) in 96-100% of the cases, and (3) a combination of diagnostic planes and/or VISAssistance (R) in 96-100% of the cases. Conclusion: FINE applied to STIC volumes can successfully generate nine standard fetal echocardiography views in 96-100% of cases in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters. This suggests that the technology can be used as a method of screening for congenital heart disease. (C) 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel