UNLABELLED Couplings between uterine contractions (UC) and fetal heart rate (fHR) provide important information on fetal condition during labor. At present, couplings between UC and fHR are assessed by visual analysis and interpretation of cardiotocography. The application of computerized approaches is restricted due to the non-stationarity of the signal, missing data and noise, typical for fHR...

We report two methods of intraoperative fetal heart rate (FHR) monitoring in cases of cerebral arteriovenous malformation surgery during pregnancy. In one case in her third trimester, cardiotocography was used. In another case in her second trimester, ultrasound sonography was used, with a transesophageal echo probe attached to her lower abdomen. Especially, the transesophageal echo probe was u...

In this study we present a noninvasive method that enables the investigation of the fetal heart rate (FHR) fluctuations. The objective was to design a quantitative measurement to assess the fetal autonomic nervous system and to investigate its development as a function of the gestational age. Our Medical Physics group has developed a complex algorithm for online beat-to-beat detection of the fe...

Human epidemiological and animal experimental studies suggest that maternal undernutrition during pregnancy may alter cardiovascular development of the offspring. The extent to which these effects involve changes in fetal cardiovascular function and whether they are necessarily linked to reduced fetal growth is unknown. In sheep, we investigated the effect of a 15% reduction in maternal global ...

The feasibility and accuracy of long-term transabdominal fetal electrocardiogram (fECG) recordings throughout pregnancy were studied using a portable fECG monitor. Fifteen-hour recordings of fetal heart rate (FHR) were performed in 150 pregnant women at 20-40 weeks of gestation and 1-hour recordings were performed in 22 women in labour and compared with simultaneous scalp electrode recordings. ...

Cardiac abnormalities are one of the main problems present in newborns. They can cause fetal death. If they are detected in time, it is possible to cure or to take all necessary precautions during childbirth. Our work proposes a method for detecting cardiac arrhythmias in the fetus by using digital filters and discrete wavelet transforms. On the basis of signals from the database DaIS, our meth...

Cardiotocography is one of the most widely used technique for recording changes in fetal heart rate (FHR) and uterine contractions. Assessing cardiotocography is crucial in that it leads to identifying fetuses which suffer from lack of oxygen, i.e. hypoxia. This situation is defined as fetal distress and requires fetal intervention in order to prevent fetus death or other neurological disease c...

Antepartum fetal surveillance is routinely used to assess the risk of fetal death in high-risk pregnancies. Traditionally, testing is performed in the hospital or outpatient clinic by trained medical staff. New equipment is now available that is easy to operate and can be used for self-monitoring of the fetal heart rate (FHR) in the home setting. The tracings are transmitted by modem to a refer...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether some offspring of women with diabetes are intrinsically more active than others in utero and whether those who are active are able to normalize their birth weight despite maternal hyperglycemia. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We conducted a three-phase study to view the relationship between fetal movements and subsequent birth weight in women with diabetes. Phase I...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether there are differences in fetal heart rate (FHR) reactivity associated with women's psychiatric status. METHOD In 57 women in their 36th to 38th week of pregnancy (mean age 27 +/- 6 years), electrocardiogram, blood pressure (BP), respiration (RSP), and FHR were measured during baseline and a psychological challenge (a Stroop color-word matching task). Subjects un...