{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,30]],"date-time":"2026-04-30T02:10:43Z","timestamp":1777515043177,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"15","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,7,24]],"date-time":"2019-07-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1563926400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003176","name":"Ministerio de Educaci\u00f3n, Cultura y Deporte","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["DPI2017-83859- R"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["DPI2017-83859- R"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003176","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Consejer\u00eda de Salud, Junta de Andaluc\u00eda","award":["PI-0107-2017"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PI-0107-2017"]}]},{"name":"Consejer\u00eda de Salud, Junta de Andaluc\u00eda","award":["PIN-0030-2017"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PIN-0030-2017"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004587","name":"Instituto de Salud Carlos III","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["PI16\/00339"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PI16\/00339"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004587","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004587","name":"Instituto de Salud Carlos III","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["DTS15\/00093"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["DTS15\/00093"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004587","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>A torsional wave (TW) sensor prototype was employed to quantify stiffness of the cervix in pregnant women. A cross-sectional study in a total of 18 women between 16 weeks and 35 weeks + 5 days of gestation was performed. The potential of TW technique to assess cervical ripening was evaluated by the measurement of stiffness related to gestational age and cervical length. Statistically significant correlations were found between cervical stiffness and gestational age (     R 2  = 0.370    ,     p = 0.0074    , using 1 kHz waves and      R 2  = 0.445    ,     p = 0.0250    , using 1.5 kHz waves). A uniform decrease in stiffness of the cervical tissue was confirmed to happen during the complete gestation. There was no significant correlation between stiffness and cervical length. A stronger association between gestational age and cervical stiffness was found compared to gestational age and cervical length correlation. As a conclusion, TW technique is a feasible approach to objectively quantify the decrease of cervical stiffness related to gestational age. Further research is required to evaluate the application of TW technique in obstetric evaluations, such as prediction of preterm delivery and labor induction failure.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s19153249","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,7,24]],"date-time":"2019-07-24T10:48:19Z","timestamp":1563965299000},"page":"3249","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":16,"title":["In Vivo Measurement of Cervical Elasticity on Pregnant Women by Torsional Wave Technique: A Preliminary Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"19","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3519-9254","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Paloma","family":"Mass\u00f3","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Investigaci\u00f3n Biosanitaria, ibs.GRANADA, 18012 Granada, Spain"},{"name":"San Cecilio University Hospital, 18016 Granada, Spain"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3196-5935","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Antonio","family":"Callejas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Investigaci\u00f3n Biosanitaria, ibs.GRANADA, 18012 Granada, Spain"},{"name":"Department of Structural Mechanics, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5542-1588","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Juan","family":"Melchor","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Investigaci\u00f3n Biosanitaria, ibs.GRANADA, 18012 Granada, Spain"},{"name":"Department of Structural Mechanics, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain"},{"name":"Excellence Research Unit, \u201cModelling Nature\u201d (MNat), University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain"}]},{"given":"Francisca S.","family":"Molina","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Investigaci\u00f3n Biosanitaria, ibs.GRANADA, 18012 Granada, Spain"},{"name":"San Cecilio University Hospital, 18016 Granada, Spain"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9239-294X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Guillermo","family":"Rus","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Investigaci\u00f3n Biosanitaria, ibs.GRANADA, 18012 Granada, Spain"},{"name":"Department of Structural Mechanics, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain"},{"name":"Excellence Research Unit, \u201cModelling Nature\u201d (MNat), University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,7,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Howson, C.P., Kinney, M.V., and Lawn, J.E. 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