2020 Presentations (Communicative Events)

Summer 2020 Undergrad Project - Late Pregnancy Uterus Model

Rajasekharan, Divya; Feder, Arielle D.; Louwagie, Erin Marie; Myers, Kristin M.

This work is a summation of Divya Rajasekharan and Arielle Feder’s 2020 summer project of capturing the coronal shape of the uterus in late pregnancy for patient-specific parametric models in the Myers Soft Tissue Lab at Columbia University.

In order to simulate the mechanics of birth, accurate models of reproductive anatomy must be acquired. With MRI images costly to obtain and not routinely taken during pregnancy, wide implementation of a patient-specific modeling framework of pregnancy must be based on 2D ultrasound images. Previously, our lab has used a parametric modeling framework based on 2D ultrasound images that assumes an ellipsoidal coronal uterine shape. However, this shape does not accurately capture anatomy in late gestation. Therefore, we investigate utilization of two additional modeling methods based on observations from solid models of the uterus and cervix from segmented MRI images of late gestation pregnancy. The first modeling method is based off the same measurements taken from 2D ultrasound, with additional assumptions about coronal shape derived from MRI images. The second modeling method uses numerous uterine diameter and wall thickness measurements from MRI. All models are compared using finite element analysis with simplistic loading conditions for 5 patients. It was found that uterine wall thickness throughout the uterine body has a significant effect on the magnitude and pattern of stress and stretch. It is also noted that direction of principle strains is consistent across all models. For future simulations of birth, we will develop a solid modeling method that incorporates aspects of both tested models.