A novel fetal electrocardiography system achieved time-resolved signal separation in 70% of subjects and enabled measurable cardiac time intervals in 63% of normal and at-risk pregnancies.
Does a novel fECG system using null coherence-based signal processing allow for feasible beat-to-beat extraction and cardiac time interval measurement in normal and at-risk pregnancies?
A novel fECG system demonstrates feasibility for non-invasive beat-to-beat signal extraction and cardiac time interval measurement, achieving a 63% success rate.
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Introduction: There is a critical clinical need for fetal electrocardiography (fECG), but no methods have successfully translated to the ambulatory setting. We developed a novel fECG system combining custom hardware and null coherence based signal processing then evaluated its feasibility for fECG extraction in normal and at-risk pregnancies. Methods: We applied the fECG system to 43 patients (25 normal fetuses,18 abnormal). FECG studies were 15 minutes long and utilized 12-24 electrodes and 1 ground. Signal processing was done during collection with additional post-processing. Two clinician raters blinded to gestational age, indication, and each other’s assessments, graded the quality of studies using a 5-point scale. The raters measured the PR, QRS, and/or QTc intervals twice where possible. Results: In 43 subjects, 30 had time-resolved fECG separation (70%) and the median grading (based on two raters across two sessions) was 3 or greater in 26/43 fetuses (60%) with graded studies. Sixty three percent of cases (27/43) had a measurable fetal cardiac time interval (fCTI). Signal quality was reduced in participants with BMI ≥ 30 and during the vernix period (25–32 weeks’ gestation). Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of fECG across gestation, enabling beat-to-beat signal extraction and CTI measurement with a 63% success rate.
Krishnan et al. (Thu,) reported a other. A novel fetal electrocardiography system achieved time-resolved signal separation in 70% of subjects and enabled measurable cardiac time intervals in 63% of normal and at-risk pregnancies.