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Semi‐automated detection of milk duct dilatation recorded by ultrasound (1016.5)
Author(s) -
Geddes Donna,
Fiorentino Jamie,
Keating Adrian
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.28.1_supplement.1016.5
Subject(s) - ultrasound , medicine , intensity (physics) , breast milk , breastfeeding , duct (anatomy) , biomedical engineering , radiology , anatomy , chemistry , pathology , physics , optics , biochemistry
In lactating women milk is stored predominantly in the alveoli of the breast and is made available to the infant or the breast pump by milk ejection. During breastfeeding or breast expression milk ejection can be detected by visualization of duct dilation and milk flow with ultrasound imaging. Currently, analysis of the ultrasound video is performed manually, is time consuming and subject to error. This pilot study tested an algorithm which determined the average intensity within a region of the video across all video frames, with the aim of determining if changes in this averaged intensity within the duct corresponded with milk flow. The region of milk flow was identified visually from the ultrasound, which detected the movement of high intensity flecks within the milk. Ultrasound intensity within a duct was measured in 7 ultrasound videos. Intensity was also measured in an area of skin and subcutaneous fat for comparison, as no correlation with milk flow is expected in these regions. Percentage changes in intensity (mean (range)) were 22% (11‐37%), 21% (14‐27%) and 112% (60‐251%) for skin, subcutaneous fat and ducts respectively. The increase in intensity at the beginning of milk ejection was 83% (60‐140%). Preliminary results suggest that targeted measurement of ultrasound intensity may be useful in accurately measuring the timing of milk ejection. Grant Funding Source : Medela AG