AI for Dating Healing Fractures in Young Children
Official title: Deep Learning of Child Abuse Imaging: Improving Outcomes of Children Evaluated for Physical Abuse
Funded at Research Inst Nationwide Children's Hosp · NIH-11441601 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A new AI tool uses pediatric imaging to more accurately determine how long a healing fracture has been present in children, helping doctors evaluate possible abuse.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R21 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Research Inst Nationwide Children's Hosp NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Columbus, United States) |
| Project start | August 17, 2026 |
| Project end | July 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $242,901 |
| NIH project number | 1R21LM015417-01 |
| Project ID | NIH-11441601 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are children under four who have fractures and are being evaluated for potential physical abuse.
✕Less likely to help
Some patients with fractures not related to abuse or those not requiring advanced imaging may see no direct benefit.
What this research studies
This project will develop and test deep learning models that analyze pediatric bone images to estimate time-since-injury for healing fractures. It will create a deidentified image-sharing framework across three large children’s hospitals and build AI infrastructure to support safer, faster image interpretation. The effort focuses on children under four with suspected physical abuse to improve diagnostic clarity and protect vulnerable kids.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, clinicians could make quicker, more accurate decisions about child safety and needed interventions.
How similar studies have gone: Prior AI approaches have shown promise in medical imaging but this project addresses a specific pediatric abuse context with novel data-sharing infrastructure.
Where this research is happening
-
Research Inst Nationwide Children's Hosp
Columbus, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Brink, Farah Wadia — Research Inst Nationwide Children's Hosp
- Study coordinator: Brink, Farah Wadia
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.