Can shear wave elastography be of value in the assessment of cervical strength for the prediction of preterm birth?

The maternal cervix will be assessed using shear wave elastography during the fetal morphology scan. This assessment will indicate the strength of the maternal cervix. The shear wave imaging will be performed by Australian Sonographer Accreditation Registry (ASAR) accredited Sonographers under the supervision of Radiologists. The extra assessment of the cervix using shear wave imaging will add up to 10 minutes to the standard ultrasound examination. The imaging will be performed at the private medical imaging practice of SKG Radiology in Perth, Western Australia. The community branches that will be used for data collection are located at Morley and Rockingham. Participants will receive a patient information form prior to consenting to be part of the study that they will keep, and a consent form will also be signed. All Sonographers who are involved in the data collection will receive training prior to commencement. This training will comprise two times two hour sessions. The topics that will be covered will include the physics of shear wave ultrasound presented in a power point format and practical demonstration of the technique. This will take place with small group sessions of less than 10 Sonographers. The training will be conducted by the Sonographer who will lead the data collection for this research, following consultation with the Radiologist leading this research. The sites utilized for training will be at the locations of SKG Radiology Morley and Rockingham. A two hour session will be performed at each site.