Context: Researchers recently developed Garbhini-GA2, an India-specific artificial intelligence model to precisely determine the gestational age of a foetus.

• It accurately determine the gestational age of a fetus during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy (months 4-9 of pregnancy).

About Garbhini-GA2

• It is the first India-specific artificial intelligence (AI) model to precisely determine the age of a foetus in a pregnant woman in the second and third trimesters.

• It has been designed by researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras and the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), Faridabad.

• It is part of an interdisciplinary group for advanced research on birth outcomes – the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) India initiative (GARBH-Ini) programme.

• It is the first late-trimester GA estimation model to be developed and validated using Indian population data.

• The Garbhini-GA2 accurately estimates the foetus’ age, reducing error by almost three times.

• Accurate ‘Gestational Age’ (GA) is necessary for the appropriate care of pregnant women and for determining precise delivery dates. 

• Once validated in pan-India cohorts, Garbhini-GA2 holds the potential to be widely deployed in clinics across the country, contributing to improved maternal and infant healthcare outcomes and reducing mortality rates.

Component of the GARBH-Ini initiative

• It is part of a research program called GARBH-Ini which focuses on advanced research about birth outcomes in India.

• The GARBH-Ini program is a flagship programme of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Govt of India.

Funding of Garbhini-GA2

• Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India

• Grand Challenges India program under the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC).

• Robert Bosch Centre for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (RBC-DSAI)

• Centre for Integrative Biology and Systems Medicine (IBSE) at IIT Madras

Significance of Garbhini-GA2 model

• The new Garbhini-GA2 formula for the second and third trimesters accurately determines the fetus’s age for Indian population, reducing errors by nearly three times.

• Precise gestational age is crucial for providing proper care to pregnant women and accurately determining delivery dates.

Key Facts about Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI)

• It is an autonomous institute of Biotechnology under the Ministry of Science and Technology, with the prime ideology of contributing most of its work beyond discovery and research.

• It was established in 2009 in Faridabad, Haryana.

• It integrates multidisciplinary teams from the fields of medicine, science, and technology to harness translational knowledge for clinical research.

• It also facilitates social Innovation and entrepreneurship in the field of maternal and child healthcare.