ArticleQuantitative imaging in medicine and surgery2026
Two- and three-dimensional high-frequency real-time ultrasonography for estimating gestational age and assessing Doppler flow changes in pregnant rats.
Article in Quantitative imaging in medicine and surgery, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Rats are commonly used model animals in reproductive system and embryonic development research, and accurate pregnancy staging and gestational age (GA) assessment are crucial for experimental studies. Traditional methods (such as vaginal plug examination and abdominal palpation) have limitations and cannot precisely determine the time of fertilization or assess embryonic developmental features. As a noninvasive and convenient real-time imaging technique, ultrasonography has been widely used in human fetal assessment but has been less intensively applied in rat pregnancy research. This study aimed to use commercial high-frequency two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) ultrasonography to establish and validate quantitative GA estimation formulae for rats, display the 3D structure of the gestational sac (GS) and fetal rat, and preliminarily examine the blood flow Doppler changes in pregnant rats and fetal rats. Methods: A total of 23 pregnant Wistar rats were included in the study and divided into an observation group (12 rats with detected vaginal plugs) and a validation group (11 rats without detected plugs but with ultrasonography-confirmed pregnancy). A Voluson E10 ultrasound diagnostic instrument (GE HealthCare), equipped with a 2D linear array probe (4-10 MHz) and a 3D volumetric probe (6-18 MHz), was used to examine the pregnant rats. Parameters such as the maximum diameter of the GS, crown-rump length (CRL), biparietal diameter (BPD), and abdominal circumference (AC) were measured, and linear and multiple regression models were constructed with GA serving as the dependent variable. The normality of data was verified via the Shapiro-Wilk test, and intraobserver reproducibility was assessed via intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). Doppler flow spectra of the maternal uterine artery (UtA) and fetal ductus venosus and umbilical artery were also analyzed. Results: The GS was first visualized on embryonic day 7 (E7). CRL demonstrated a strong linear correlation with GA from E9 to E15 (R Conclusions: Commercial high-frequency ultrasound facilitates the reliable and quantitative assessment of rat pregnancy and GA with good reproducibility. Serial Doppler imaging can reveal characteristic maternal-fetal hemodynamic changes throughout gestation. 3D ultrasonography allows for the noninvasive visualization of the spatial arrangement of GS and fetal morphology. These findings provide a standardized imaging protocol for future studies in rat reproductive toxicology, pharmacology, and pregnancy-related disease models.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.