10/22/2026
A great example of interdisciplinary work.
An interdisciplinary Boston College team was awarded a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to develop the first AI-enabled ultrasound system designed for long-term, point-of-care nutritional monitoring in preterm infants.
The tool would fill a critical gap in assessing the accumulation of lean and fat tissue during infants’ neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) stays, when targeted interventions for babies born before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy can have the most significant impact.
The project will be led by Department of Engineering at Boston College Professor Bryan Ranger. Co-investigators include Boston College Connell School of Nursing Dean Katherine E. Gregory, Nursing Professor Jinhee Park, and Boston College Computer Science Professor Yuan Yuan.
According to evidence-based clinical database UpToDate, premature babies need significantly higher amounts of calories, proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals compared to full-term infants to match the rapid growth they would have experienced in the womb. The earlier the preterm infant is born, the fewer stores of fat, protein, iron, and minerals they have, which are essential for respiratory function, heat regulation, and bone development. Enriching a preterm infant’s nutrition usually addresses the deficit.
“From my background in neonatal nursing and research, I’ve seen how challenging it can be to know whether a preterm infant is growing well,” Park said. “What is particularly exciting is the potential to bring this kind of information closer to the bedside—to help clinicians understand not just whether preterm infants are growing, but how they are maturing over time, and ultimately, to support more tailored approaches to nutrition and care.”
🔗 https://on.bc.edu/NeonatalHealth
