Predictive placentas: Using AI to protect mothers' future pregnancies

After a baby is born, doctors sometimes examine the placenta--the organ that links the mother to the baby--for features that indicate health risks in any future pregnancies. Unfortunately, this is a time-consuming process that must be done by a specialist, so most placentas go unexamined after the birth. A team of researchers from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) developed a machine learning approach to examine placenta slides so more women can be informed of their health risks. One reason placentas are examined is to look for a type of blood vessel lesions called decidual vasculopathy (DV). These indicate the mother is at risk for pre-eclampsia--a complication that can be fatal to the mother and the baby--in any future pregnancies.