Google Research AI model matches expert sonographers on gestational age from blind sweep ultrasound

Google Research published a prospective multi-center study in JAMA Network Open showing its AI model estimated gestational age from blind sweep ultrasound with a mean absolute error of 4.18 days, versus 4.48 days for expert sonographers using standard biometry. The model was minimally tuned on 120 Chicago participants and tested without any local optimization in Nairobi, where it reached an MAE of 4.27 days, compared with 4.10 days in Chicago. The research targets frontline maternal care, where the WHO estimates more than 250,000 preventable pregnancy-related deaths occur yearly and two-thirds of people lack access to diagnostic imaging.