A New, Phonocardiography-Based Telemetric Fetal Home Monitoring System

A novel phonocardiography fetal telemonitoring system used passive signal capture for long-term surveillance in home monitoring of the third trimester. The home monitor had sensors for recording transabdominal fetal heart signal and uterine contractions. The recorded signal was transmitted by mobile network and Internet to an evaluation center, where it was analyzed in detail to obtain information about possible dysfunction of the fetal heart. The investigations on this system made clear that by advanced processing of the recorded signal the system captured many additional cardiac features compared with the traditional ultrasound-based cardiotocographic procedure. The system was produced in 100 monitors and tested in 115 women with 323 datasets. The purpose of this article is to describe a new, phonocardiography-based fetal telemonitoring system, which, due to its passive nature, allows long-term measurements even at the home of the pregnant woman. The input element of the system was the home monitor with two sensors for recording the trans-abdominal fetal heart signal and the uterine contractions. The recorded signal was transmitted by mobile network and Internet to an Evaluation Center, where it was analyzed in detail to obtain information about possible dysfunction of the fetal heart. The investigations on this system made clear that by advanced processing of the recorded signal the system captured many additional cardiac features compared with the traditional ultrasound-based cardiotocographic procedure.