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Context: Variability in 2D ultrasound (US) is related to the acquisition of planes of reference and the positioning of callipers and could be reduced in combining US volume acquisitions and anatomical structures recognition., Objectives: The primary objective is to assess the consistency between 3D measurements (automated and manual) extracted from a fetal US volume with standard 2D US measurements (I). Secondary objectives are to evaluate the feasibility of the use of software to obtain automated measurements of the fetal head, abdomen and femur from US acquisitions (II) and to assess the impact of automation on intraobserver and interobserver reproducibility (III)., Methods and Analysis: 225 fetuses will be measured at 16-30 weeks of gestation. For each fetus, six volumes (two for head, abdomen and thigh, respectively) will be prospectively acquired after performing standard 2D biometry measurements (head and abdominal circumference, femoral length). Each volume will be processed later by both a software and an operator to extract the reference planes and to perform the corresponding measurements. The different sets of measurements will be compared using Bland-Altman plots to assess the agreement between the different processes (I). The feasibility of using the software in clinical practice will be assessed through the failure rate of processing and the score of quality of measurements (II). Interclass correlation coefficients will be used to evaluate the intraobserver and interobserver reproducibility (III)., Ethics and Dissemination: The study and related consent forms were approved by an institutional review board (CPP SUD-EST 3) on 2 October 2018, under reference number 2018-033 B. The study has been registered in https://clinicaltrials.gov registry on 23 January 2019, under the number NCT03812471. This study will enable an improved understanding and dissemination of the potential benefits of 3D automated measurements and is a prerequisite for the design of intention to treat randomised studies assessing their impact., Trial Registration Number: NCT03812471; Pre-results., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors CC-V, CR, LR, are part of Philips Research Development. Philips Research is the sponsor of the EPICEA study. The other authors (GAG, GH, CB, OM, MB) are part of CHRU Nancy and have been mandated by Philips Research to design, to set up and to carry out this research., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

An abstract of the article "Fetal biometry: contribution and limitations of the three-dimensional approach," by G. Ambroise Grandjean and colleagues is presented.