University of Helsinki researchers have developed artificial intelligence software, which can evaluate the maturity of a preterm infant’s brain directly from an EEG. As discussed here, the EEG-based brain maturity evaluation systems is the first of its kind in the world. The analysis software is based on machine learning. EEG readings are fed into a computer, and the software calculated hundreds of computational features from each measurement without intervention from the doctor. All of these features were combined to provide a estimate of the EEG maturational age of the infant. This should aid in treatment of pre-term infants going forward.



One in ten live births is a premature one, and approximately half of all patients in neonatal intensive care are there because of preterm birth. Late pregnancy is a time of very rapid brain development for the fetus — the brain’s electrical activity changes almost every week. The brain must function in order to develop correctly.

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Source: [H]ardOCP – Artificial intelligence to Evaluate Brain Maturity of Preterm Infants