Image analysis of newborn plantar surface for gestational age determination

Abstract

We present a computational approach to support gestational age determination of premature newborns. This knowledge is fundamental to guide postnatal treatment and increase survival chances. However, current approaches are both invasive and do not generate precise results. This paper presents an original and non-invasive method to determine the gestational age based on information supplied by plantar surface images. These images present many details and patterns but to date have not received attention from the image processing community. We provide a computational tool with suitable facilities to allow the image analysis, either automatically or user-driven. Besides its importance to Neonatology, this work represents a contribution of Computer Vision concepts to Medical Imaging. The experimental results confirm the relationship between the plantar surface features and newborn gestational age.