IIT Madras develops first India-specific AI model to determine foetus age

In a first researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology IIT Madras have developed an Artificial Intelligence AI model that is specific to Indian population and can accurately determine the age of a foetus in a pregnant woman in her second and third trimestersAccurate age of a foetus gestational age helps in providing proper care of pregnant women and also to determine precise delivery datesCurrently physicians in India determine the gestational age using a formula developed for Western population increasing chances of errorThe new model called lsquoGarbhiniGA2rsquo accurately estimates the age of a foetus for the Indian population reducing error by almost three times said the team of researchers including from the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute THSTI Faridabad on MondayIt is ldquothe first latetrimester gestational age estimation model to be developed and validated using Indian population datardquo they noted in the study published in the peerreviewed journal Lancet Regional Health Southeast AsiaThe new model can also improve the care delivered by obstetricians and neonatologists thus reducing maternal and infant mortality rates in IndiaThe research is also part of lsquoInterdisciplinary Group for Advanced Research on Birth Outcomes DBT India Initiativersquo GARBHIni programmeldquoGARBHIni is a flagship programme of DBT and the development of these populationspecific models for estimating gestational age is a commendable outcome These models are being validated across the countryrdquo said Dr Rajesh Gokhale Secretary Department of Biotechnology DBT Government of India in a statement on MondayldquoIIT Madras has been contributing towards solving healthcare problems at the grassroots and local level with the aim of enhancing public health in India To this end we are utilising advanced data science and AIML techniques to build tools to predict unfavourable birth outcomes The first step towards this is to develop accurate GA models that perform significantly better than currently used models designed using Western populationsrdquo added Dr Himanshu Sinha a Coordinator at the Center for Integrative Biology and Systems Medicine IIT Madras and who led the data science work for this researchGarbhiniGA2 used three routinely measured foetal ultrasound parameters and was developed using GARBHIni cohort data documented at Gurugram Civil Hospital Haryana and was validated in an independent cohort in South IndiaOnce validated in prospective panIndia cohorts this GarbhiniGA2 can be deployed in clinics across India improving the care delivered by obstetricians and neonatologists thus reducing maternal and infant mortality rates in India the researchers saidldquoImproving the gestational age accuracy is a critical component of the broader goals of the GARBHIni study which aims to reduce the adverse pregnancy outcomesrdquo said Dr Shinjini Bhatnagar Principal Investigator of the GARBHIni programme and a Distinguished Professor at THSTIThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever