Improving Preterm Birth Outcomes with Virtual Cervix Technology

On this episode of Advances in Care, host Erin Welsh is joined by Dr. Mirella Mourad, maternal-fetal medicine specialist at NewYork-Presbyterian and co-director of the Preterm Birth Prevention Center at Columbia, to explore a groundbreaking new technology aimed at improving the diagnosis and treatment of preterm birth. Preterm birth impacts approximately 1 in 10 pregnancies in the United States, making it a leading cause of neonatal complications and long-term health challenges. But despite its prevalence and associated risks, innovative solutions to address the condition have lagged behind. To address this gap, Dr. Mourad and her collaborator, Dr. Kristin Meyers, a professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia’s School of Engineering, are developing a new tool: a patient-specific “digital twin” of the cervix. This advanced technology has the potential to revolutionize obstetric care for patients, by allowing clinicians to test new treatment methods, collect data to better understand why certain people are at risk for preterm birth, and overall, catalyze innovation in the historically under-researched field of maternal-fetal medicine, ultimately helping to drive better outcomes and successful pregnancies. Dr. Mourad also discusses how this digital twin can potentially assist with identifying women with placenta accreta spectrum disorder, and inform more precise and proactive treatment plans for patients with this high-risk condition. *** Mirella Mourad, MD is the Co-Director of the Preterm Birth Prevention Center and a Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialist at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. She is particularly interested in the medical diseases that affect pregnancy, focusing on maternal cardiac conditions, autoimmune diseases, and surgical complications involving abnormal placentation. Dr. Mourad is a fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and a member of the Society of Maternal-Fetal Medicine. For more information visit nyp.org/Advances