Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39710825›Full record

ArticleAnnals of biomedical engineering2025

Experimental Assessment of Traction Force and Associated Fetal Brain Deformation in Vacuum-Assisted Delivery.

Estelle Pitti, Lotta Herling, Xiaogai Li, Gunilla Ajne, Matilda Larsson

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Annals of biomedical engineering, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Estelle PittiBiomedical Engineering and Health Systems, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. pitti@kth.se.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0009-2233-1752
Lotta HerlingClinical Science Intervention and Technology-CLINTEC, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Xiaogai LiBiomedical Engineering and Health Systems, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.
Gunilla AjneClinical Science Intervention and Technology-CLINTEC, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Matilda LarssonBiomedical Engineering and Health Systems, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.

Funding

KTH and Region Stockholm within the Health, Medicine, and Technology Call FoUI-991952Vetenskapsrådet 2021-04707
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Vacuum-assisted delivery (VAD) uses a vacuum cup on the fetal scalp to apply traction during uterine contractions, assisting complicated vaginal deliveries. Despite its widespread use, VAD presents a higher risk of neonatal morbidity compared to natural vaginal delivery and biomechanical evidence for safe VAD traction forces is still limited. The aim of this study is to develop and assess the feasibility of an experimental VAD testing setup, and investigate the impact of traction forces on fetal brain deformation. A patient-specific fetal head phantom was developed and subjected to experimental VAD in two testing setups: one with manual and one with automatic force application. The skull phantom was 3D printed using multi-material Polyjet technology. The brain phantom was cast in a 3D-printed mold using a composite hydrogel, and sonomicrometry crystals were used to estimate the brain deformation in three brain regions. The experimental VADs on the fetal head phantom allowed for quantifying brain strain with traction forces up to 112 N. Consistent brain crystal movements aligned with the traction force demonstrated the feasibility of the setup. The estimated brain deformations reached up to 4% and correlated significantly with traction force (p < 0.05) in regions close to the suction cup. Despite limitations such as the absence of scalp modeling and a simplified strain computation, this study provides a baseline for numerical studies and supports further research to optimize the safety of VAD procedures and develop VAD training platforms.

Indexed as

BrainFetusVacuum Extraction, ObstetricalFemaleHumansPhantoms, ImagingPregnancyTractionBrain deformationExperimental setupFetal head phantomTraction forceVacuum-assisted delivery

Identifiers

PMID39710825
PMCPMC11929728

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.