AI-powered ultrasound to monitor growth and nutrition in preterm babies
Official title: Advancing Neonatal Health: AI-enabled Ultrasound for Enhanced Growth and Nutritional Assessment
Funded at Boston College · NIH-11430827 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A new AI-enabled ultrasound tool will help doctors track how much lean tissue and fat preterm babies are building during their NICU stay and after discharge.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Boston College NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Chestnut Hill, United States) |
| Project start | September 10, 2026 |
| Project end | May 31, 2031 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $690,974 |
| NIH project number | 1R01HD122857-01 |
| Project ID | NIH-11430827 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Preterm infants in NICUs who require nutrition monitoring and growth assessment.
✕Less likely to help
Infants without growth or nutrition monitoring needs or families not using NICU services may not directly benefit.
What this research studies
This project aims to create a low-cost, portable ultrasound system that works with artificial intelligence to give real-time, easy-to-understand measurements of a preterm infant’s body composition. Researchers will collect ultrasound scans, gold-standard body composition data, and clinical information from 160 babies at two hospitals, then follow them for 24 months after discharge. The system will be automated and designed for daily use by clinicians at the bedside to guide nutritional decisions. By making body composition tracking more accurate and accessible, care teams can tailor feeding strategies to support growth and development.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the tool could help clinicians optimize nutrition for preterm infants, potentially improving growth trajectories and neurodevelopmental outcomes.
How similar studies have gone: Preliminary data suggest AI-enhanced ultrasound can predict body composition with reasonable accuracy, but this will be prospectively validated in infants.
Where this research is happening
-
Boston College
Chestnut Hill, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Ranger, Bryan — Boston College
- Study coordinator: Ranger, Bryan
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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.