Earlier monitoring of fetal heartbeat

Sriram DashReg. 0601289053

A Brief OverviewWhat is fetal heart rate monitoring ? When it

is required?Why go for fetal heart rate monitoring ?Why

as early as possible?Fetal heart rate monitoring till date .

Methods. Ultrasound. ECG belts

Their Disadvantages.

Contd…Proposed heart rate monitoring method.

Plan.Method.Explanation with circuit concepts.

Advantages of the proposed methodology over currently available techniques.

Role of a biomedical Engineer.References.

What is fetal heart rate monitoringFetal heart rate monitoring is recording of

ECG & CTG and monitoring of the heart as a whole of a fetus .

Only screening tests are available for monitoring fetal activity inside placenta, now-a-days.

The only accurate test till date is the antenatal testing.

But the monitoring of fetus should be done as early as possible.

Why go for fetal heart rate monitoring? Why as early as possible?

Contd…The fetal heart beat is an important

parameter in determining hypoxia.Bradycardia occurrence can be detected.Fetal heart rate is an indirect way of

measurement of pH of the body.Any abnormality in the structure of heart can

be found by observing the ECG and PCG.

Tools for Fetal Welfare AssessmentThere are many tools available for assessing

fetal welfare.All tests have a reasonably low incidence of

finding true fetal compromise. There are broadly two methods for fetal

heart rate monitoring:UltrasoundECG

UltrasoundIntroduced from the late 1950’s and is

currently considered a safe, non-invasive and cost-effective investigation.Dating scansNuchal Translucency scansAnomaly scans Growth scansLiquor AssessmentArterial Doppler Wave Form Studies

ECG MonitoringMonitoring the baby's heart using

electrocardiography (ECG) plus cardiotocography (CTG) during labour helps mothers and babies when continuous monitoring is needed.

This is done by placement of scalp electrodes on the baby during labour.

Disadvantages Inaccurate Many interferences observed in ECG.No clear picture of heart is obtained.

Proposed heart rate monitoring methodThe proposed method for recording the heart

beat accurately and earlier consists of a wide belt, fitted with several ECG electrodes.

The data from the electrodes is fed to a monitor which analyses the data on an algorithm, for clear ECG data of the fetus.

The Proposed Heart rate monitoring model

x(n) = v(n) + m(n)x(n) : primary input to the filter, observed signalv(n) : signal of interestm(n) : primary noiseAdaptive filtering requires a second input r(n), ‘reference input’

The Adaptive filter

Original signal

Fetal ECG

Corrected signal

Advantages Accurate.Fetal heart rate can be found earlier.Multidimensional view of fetal heart can be

obtained.

ReferencesElizabeth Thomson.(2009).Techtalk. New

system allows earlier monitoring of fetal heart beat.53(27),4.

NSWHEALTH.(2008).Fetal Physiology. Cooke H. & Giles W.Retrived august 2009.

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