Mathematical Modeling of Fetal Growth: I. Basic Principles

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Abstract
: Quantitative characterization of fetal growth requires the selection of measurement parameters and a growth curve model. For such studies we propose two new parameters (the head cube and the abdominal cube) and a new growth curve model [P = c(t)k+S(t)]. These parameters are relatively insensitive to shape changes and are related to three‐dimensional parameters even though they can be calculated from profile diameter measurements. The growth curve model is capable of adequately describing a wide variety of growth curves and its coefficients may be associated with specific biological variables. The properties of these parameters and the growth curve model are discussed. Indexing Words: Gross models · Fetal growth.