DOI: 10.5061/dryad.05qfttf5c
title: Portable ultrasound technologies for estimating gestational age in pregnant women: A scoping review and analysis of commercially available models

description: Objectives: To identify all available studies assessing the use of
 portable ultrasound devices for pregnant women, with the specific aim of
 finding evidence for devices used to determine gestational age and their
 validity when compared to conventional ultrasound machines. We also wanted
 to determine what portable ultrasound models are commercially available
 for obstetric use.  Design: Systematic scoping review Primary and
 secondary outcome measures: Extracted variables included study design,
 population, method of ultrasound measurement, devices used and whether
 studies formally validated accuracy against conventional ultrasound
 Results: We searched four databases – Medline, Embase, CINAHL, and
 Maternal and Infant Care. In total, 56 studies from 34 countries were
 identified; most were observational studies. Across all studies, 27
 different portable ultrasound models (from 17 manufacturers) were
 evaluated. Twenty-one studies assessed use of portable ultrasound for
 evaluating fetal characteristics or estimating gestational age, and 10 of
 these were formal validation studies. In total, six portable devices have
 been validated for gestational age estimation against a conventional
 ultrasound comparator. The web searches identified 102 portable devices
 (21 manufacturers). These were a mix of handheld devices that connected to
 a phone or computer, or laptop-style portable ultrasound devices. Prices
 ranged from $1,190 to $30,000 USD and weight ranged from 0.9 kg to 13.0
 kg. Conclusion: While the number of commercially available portable
 ultrasound devices continues to grow, there remains a lack of
 peer-reviewed, quality evidence demonstrating their accuracy and validity
 when compared to conventional ultrasound machines. This review identified
 some models that may be useful in gestational age estimation in
 low-resource settings, but more research is required to help implement the
 technology at scale.
description: File 1. Commercially available models - This
 table was formed by searching the online websites and stores to identify
 commercially available portable ultrasound devices -
 Manufacturers were identified by a comination of general and targeted
 online searches - Specific paramaters to be extracted
 were identified prior to commencement of the search (these form the
 columns in the dataset) - Eight of these were the
 suggested or requirements of obstetric ultrasound equipment as identified
 in the World Health Organization (WHO) report 'WHO recommendations on
 antenatal care for a positive pregnancy experience: ultrasound
 examination' - Best attempts were made to identify
 all data, though for a lot of devices the full set of paramaters could not
 be extracted from their online information, hence some fields do not have
 results   File 2. Results of scoping
 review - This file is the result of the systematic
 scoping review conducted as part of this research project
 - Articles were identified via a literature search process
 described elsewhere - Parameters for extraction were
 agreed upon by a select number of members from the research team
 - Data was taken directly from the article, with allocations then
 made to various classifications. These classifications used pre-determined
 options to ensure consistency - All data was extracted
 by two independent researchers, with any conflicts settled by a third
 independent reviewer.
description: Files may be opened and used in Microsoft Excel program.