# An Integrated and Automated Tool for Quantification of Biomechanics in Fetal and Neonatal Echocardiography

> **NIH NIH R21** · PURDUE UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $242,150

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 The single ventricle (SV) heart is a critical birth defect that requires several palliative surgeries for patient
survival. Even when these surgeries are considered successful, SV hearts can develop heart failure (HF),
resulting in just a 43% 30-years of age survival rate for patients. The SV's biomechanics underlying the
progression to HF could provide critical enabling information that could help improve SV patients' outcomes and
surgical planning. Despite that, SV biomechanics remain not well understood. Existing echocardiography
analysis tools are designed for adult hearts and cannot accurately or reproducibly evaluate fetal and neonatal
echocardiograms. Thus, currently, there are no available tools to study the biomechanics of SV hearts.
Beyond this, conventional metrics such as ejection fraction (EF) fail to capture SV hearts' growth and remodeling.
 We previously developed a novel, automated analysis tools that can quantify ventricular biomechanics from
routine B-mode and color Doppler recordings. We tested these tools using pre- and postnatal normal and
hypoplastic left heart patients. We simultaneously measured conventional metrics (e.g., EF), global longitudinal
strain and strain rate, interventricular pressure difference, and flow energy losses. Such measurements have
never been possible using existing echocardiogram analysis tools. Our initial findings indicated these metrics
differed between SV and normal postnatal hearts, with statistical significance.
 We propose to test the hypothesis that differences in diastolic flow, pressure, and energy-loss,
correlate with pre- and post-Fontan procedure outcomes and predict progression to failure. We will aim
to (i) optimize and establish the accuracy and reliability of our novel and integrated echocardiography
analysis for SV hearts and subsequently use our tools to establish quantitative biomechanics and
hemodynamic differences between healthy and SV hearts. Further, we aim to: (ii) analyze SV hearts using a
prospective longitudinal study to develop correlations between the evolution of hemodynamics and
biomechanics parameters of SV hearts with time-point outcomes, such as growth and event-free survival at fetal,
neonatal, and pre- and post-Fontan stages.
 This project aims to improve predictions of outcomes and enable better surgical planning and clinical
management for children with SV heart defects. This project's goal would be to establish our tools in clinical
practice.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10508997
- **Project number:** 1R21HD109490-01
- **Recipient organization:** PURDUE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Ronald Mark Payne
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $242,150
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-09-15 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10508997

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10508997, An Integrated and Automated Tool for Quantification of Biomechanics in Fetal and Neonatal Echocardiography (1R21HD109490-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10508997. Licensed CC0.

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