Automated assessment of ovarian follicles using a novel three-dimensional ultrasound software

ObjectiveTo evaluate the accuracy, efficiency, and applicability of a new automated method of follicular assessment.DesignRetrospective review of three-dimensional ultrasonographic ovarian volumes.SettingAcademic center.Patient(s)Three-dimensional ovarian volumes from patients undergoing IVF.Intervention(s)Three-dimensional volumes of gonadotropin-stimulated ovaries and simulated ovarian follicles (SOFs) of known volume were evaluated with the new automated follicular assessment software (SonoAVC).Main Outcome Measure(s)[1] Maximum absolute error for the SonoAVC in assessing the volumes of the SOFs; [2] correlations between the automated and manual follicular measurements; [3] time required to analyze all of the follicles in a given ovarian volume.Result(s)The SOF of 4, 6, and 10 mm were evaluated. The SonoAVC's maximum absolute error for the volumes of the 4, 6, and 10 mm SOFs was 0 (0%), 0.01 (8.3%), and 0.02 (3.8%) cc, respectively. Three hundred forty-seven follicles, ranging in diameter from 2.3–32 mm, were evaluated. The correlation coefficient for the SonoAVC-generated relaxed follicular diameter and the manual measured mean follicular diameter was 0.99. The time required to analyze all of the follicles in a given ovarian volume for the automated and manual method was 133 versus 361 seconds, respectively.Conclusion(s)The SonoAVC proved to be a very accurate and efficient way to measure ovarian follicles. The measurements obtained by the SonoAVC correlated extremely well with the manual measurements we obtained.