Azure Team 2016
Fetal Heart Rate and Uterine EMG Monitoring for Fetal Health
This project focuses on designing the next generation portable device to monitor fetal heart rate and uterine contractions in order to enable remote diagnosis of fetal health. Signals are picked up from a mother’s abdominal area, filtered, and processed to display EMG and FECG information. The device targets mothers in their third trimester pregnancy until labor time. By combining the information from uterine contraction and fetal heart rates, it can diagnose the health of the fetus, and will be able to detect abnormalities such as Bradycardia and Tachycardia without going through long and tedious procedures in the hospital. Moreover, based on the duration and frequency of uterine contraction, the device can also predict the labor time and allow parents better preparation.
Note: Bradycardia is a decrease of the fetal heart rate, which can mean a heart malformation, or severe hypoxia. Tachycardia is an increase of the fetal heart rate, which can be diagnostic of maternal fever or anemia. During labor, a contraction followed closely by a slight dip in the fetal heart rate signifies a healthy fetus ready to be born. At present, diagnosing the onset of labor is bulky and prone to error.
Related Tech Notes
- Ergonomics of Cardiotocography by Pengxiang Hu
- Safety and Ergonomics in a Wearable Electronic Device by Bennedict Kim
Azure Team Project Poster
