Sara Garcia
Pronouns: She/Her
Research Mentor(s): J Fowlkes
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Radiology / Medicine
Program:
Authors: Sara Garcia, Haowei Tai, Kourosh Kalayeh, James Ashton-Miller, John DeLancey, Brian Fowlkes
Session: Session 2: 10:00 am – 10:50 am
Poster: 63
Abstract
Urinary incontinence is a condition that involves the involuntary leakage of urine. Despite the thousands of women who experience incontinence, little is known about the role urethral function itself plays. The aim of this study is to evaluate the urethra tissue quality accounting for the angle between the urethra to the ultrasound beam. Ten different ultrasound videos during the valsalva maneuver were analyzed from different human subjects, ranging from the ages of 22 to 75. By calculating the angles of the urethra and ultrasound beam using python and segmentation, a connection was found between degradation of urethra tissue as a function of age. In part of this analysis, the automatically identified angles by python were compared to angles manually calculated to demonstrate the accuracy of the angles. The preliminary results suggest that the average error between the measurement to the code was below 8 degrees. The results of comparing the angles calculated by python to the manually created angles support our hypothesis that the code is able to accurately measure the angles from the urethra and ultrasound beam. The findings of this research project will enable operator-independent assessment of ultrasound imaging of urethra tissue and its connection to incontinence, and hopefully lead to further research to find a solution to incontinence.This research will also allow for medical professionals to gain a better understanding of the cause of incontinence in women and could lead to potential methods to help combat this issue.
