Game-changer AI tool will save mothers and babies

Frank  O'Donnell

Frank O'Donnell

Public Sector Lead

Read Time, 4 min.

A new prototype AI diagnostic test for pre-eclampsia developed by a multi-disciplinary Irish team will hopefully save thousands of lives around the world.

Preeclampsia affects 1 in 10 pregnancies and causes the deaths of at least 50,000 mothers and 500,000 babies worldwide every year. It is a serious pregnancy complication and diagnosis remains a significant challenge.

Using cloud-based technology, an Irish team has now developed a prototype AI-based machine learning tool that has shown great promise in identifying pre-eclampsia when it develops, and how severe it will become. Clinical teams will be able to use this tool – AI_PREMie – to hopefully make vital life-saving decisions for babies and mothers in real-time.

AI_PREMie is a high-quality rapid pre-eclampsia prototype test born of combined biomedical, clinical and machine learning know-how. It is utilising the SAS Viya analytics engine running on Microsoft Azure to help identify women with pre-eclampsia.

“Trying to identify pre-eclampsia biomarkers in a mother’s blood is like looking for a needle in a haystack”, says Prof Patricia Maguire, Professor of Biochemistry at University College Dublin. “The AI_PREMie algorithm will hopefully enable the clinical team to identify women with pre-eclampsia and how severe it might become, quickly and easily.”

Prof Maguire is leading on the AI_PREMie project with consultant haematologist Professor Fionnuala Ní Ainle and the manager of the University College Dublin AI for Healthcare Hub, Dr Paulina Szklanna. Their multidisciplinary team also involves data scientists from UCD as well as obstetricians and lab scientists from all Dublin maternity hospitals – National Maternity Hospital, the Rotunda Hospital and the Coombe Maternity Hospital.

Protecting and saving at-risk babies

The only ‘cure’ for pre-eclampsia is delivery of the baby, but that is often pre-term and premature babies can face many health challenges. At least 5 million babies worldwide are born prematurely every year due to pre-eclampsia and they account for a huge proportion of annual admissions to neonatal intensive care units.

AI_PREMie may also be useful towards predicting whether a woman will progress to severe pre-eclampsia, permitting a more accurate timing of delivery, and potentially allowing a baby to remain in utero for several more precious hours or days, impacting their survival chances and their long-term health.

“The decision can be a difficult one, healthcare professionals must decide: whether to deliver a baby due to concern over the mother’s safety, or to keep baby in-utero for as long as possible”

This is according to Assoc. Prof Jennifer Donnelly, of University College Dublin and Consultant Obstetrician, at the Rotunda Hospital, and a member of the AI_PREMie team.

A future easy-to-use real-time tool

AI_PREMie uses powerful machine-learning algorithms to combine unique biochemical signals with clinical information about patients, such as blood tests, demographics and medical opinion.

Not only will the test hopefully more accurately diagnose pre-eclampsia, but it may also predict the future severity of disease. That risk stratification means the medical team can time the baby’s delivery with more accuracy. The more time the team can give the baby in the womb, the better the baby’s chance of survival and optimal long-term neurodevelopment.

In the future, by performing their analysis using standard equipment in the hospital lab as well as in the cloud, the team believe that AI_PREMie will return an easily interpretable risk score within a few hours to aid clinical decision-making in real-time.

Set to revolutionise pregnancy care

The molecular biomarkers underlying AI_PREMie won the UCD NOVA Invention of the Year in 2021. The test is still in the research phase and is currently being piloted in three Dublin maternity hospitals, capturing 50% of all Irish births.

This tool will fill a long-standing gap in maternal healthcare, with the team behind it believing it will become part of pregnancy screening programmes globally within five years. The use of advanced cloud technology means that AI_PREMie will continually learn and evolve once it is implemented into widespread clinical practice.

This will reduce costs to the health service. In Ireland, for example, a pre-eclamptic pregnancy has typically cost the health service more than twice an uncomplicated pregnancy, with the national cost of pre-eclampsia estimated at €9.1m.

Survivors of preeclampsia have a lifelong increased risk of developing other chronic diseases, such as heart and vascular disease. In fact, preeclampsia is associated with a fourfold increased risk of developing kidney failure within 10 years after pregnancy. This risk is increased even further by having more than one preeclamptic pregnancy, a low-birthweight offspring, or a preterm delivery. Therefore, any improvement in clinical decision-making will have enormous preventative potential on the long-term health of the population and future healthcare resource requirements.

“The impact of AI_PREMie will be a game-changer in tackling pre-eclampsia. As a clinician, I cannot wait to use it as part of our care.”

So says Professor Mary Higgins, UCD School of Medicine, University College Dublin, who is a consultant obstetrician at the National Maternity Hospital, Dublin and Societal Champion on the AI_PREMie team.

Discover how to harness the power of machine learning with Microsoft Azure.

Try Microsoft Azure for free

Get started building your next great idea with Azure

Discover more related articles per industry:

Education

  • a person sitting at a desk in front of a computer

    Reimagining Uninterrupted Learning at Sacred Heart School in Tullamore

    As students and teachers found themselves away from the classroom environment and learning from home, schools were again adapting to different ways of learning to ensure quality education continues. For the Sacred Heart School in Tullamore, Co Offaly, the staff and student body were well prepared to deal with this upheaval and continued to deliver […]

  • Northern Ireland moves to cloud-first education

    Northern Ireland moves to cloud-first education

    Northern Ireland moves to cloud-first education All teachers in the region now being equipped with Surface Pro laptops Transforming how education is provided in Northern Ireland over the next decade is a crucial goal for the region’s Education Authority.  To meet digital skills needs over that period and beyond, the authority is implementing a versatile […]

Finance & Insurance

Government

  • Two people inside using Surface Go in office

    How technology is transforming the work of governments

    Governments have the ultimate responsibility to their citizens. People depend on the services they provide like no other institution. Whether in healthcare, education, business, roads, railways, water – it’s essential that government institutions are always at the forefront of social and digital trends. Cloud-powered technologies are playing a critical role in helping government agencies to […]

Healthcare

Manufacturing

  • a group of people in a pool of water

    Overcoming a sea of data with Microsoft Azure

    With 12,000 ships certified, DNV GL’s job of ensuring they’re built safely and remain safe should be overwhelming, especially with the more than 50,000 inspections it must carry out each year. However, by making use of machine learning algorithms in Microsoft Azure, the company is not only increasing efficiency and satisfying its customers, but it’s […]

  • Guy standing next to plane looking at Smartwatch to check reporting.

    Air France and KLM subsidiary EPCOR predicts future failures with data and AI

    EPCOR provides maintenance, repair and overhaul services, including state-of-the-art test facilities for aircraft pneumatic components and Auxiliary Power Units (APU). The APU is responsible for starting the main engines and provide power to essential aircraft functions. By harnessing cloud-based APU data using innovative analysis and machine learning, EPCOR is helping airlines meet their cost, safety […]

Retail

Discover more related articles per dossier:

Customer Stories

  • Kinetic Reimagining in-store advertising with AI

    Kinetic Reimagining in-store advertising with AI

    With Intouch.com’s AI solution using Microsoft Azure, Kinetic has experienced 39% sales increases for some brands.   Outdoor advertising is one of the oldest forms of advertising in the world, and over the years it has evolved and embraced new technology, moving from traditional billboards to digital, and more recently to smart digital. Now, an […]

Digital Transformation

  • Uncovered: 4 Essential Field Service Trends For 2018

    Uncovered: 4 Essential Field Service Trends For 2018

    In a changing world of innovative new technology, connected devices, and shifting employee and customer needs, what trends are shaping the future for the Field Service industry and how can you embrace them? Trend #1: Putting the right tools into the right hands “It’s about empowering the field service engineer with more than just the […]

Press

  • Image of a man and woman smiling

    Microsoft and Connect at Catalyst Inc

    Microsoft and Connect at Catalyst Inc It’s an exciting time to be working in the technology sector in Northern Ireland. More than ever before we’re seeing increased numbers of entrepreneurs, start-up businesses, and indeed multinationals setting up in the North. Working together and learning from each other encourages a strong technology ecosystem and ultimately yields […]

Security & Privacy

Tips

  • Group of two female and one male office workers brainstorming in informal office setting. Both women are using laptops while the man is writing. Large screen shown in background.

    2019 Modern Selling Trends in 5 webinars

    The relationship between buyers and sellers grows more complicated each day. Every potential partnership requires finding the right buyer, fully understanding their business, tracking progress through the buying cycle, and engaging them with the right content—when and how they want it. These shifting dynamics underscore the artistry of modern selling. When the time is right, […]