Identification of a Nonlinear Association between Components of the Electrohysterographical Signal

Identification of a Nonlinear Association between Components of the Electrohysterographical Signal Electrohysterography is a method for measuring of bioelectrical potentials generated by a contracting uterus. It is used for monitoring of uterine activities mainly during a pregnancy and for prediction of an upcoming pretermlabour. However, there is still unknown the best method of EHG analysis which gives clinically useful information about a uterine activity. To achieve this goal we propose to use information about nonlinear associations between EHG signals registered from an uterine fundus and an uterine cervix. The h2index was applied to identify these relationships. The obtained results reveal that there exists a nonlinear correlation between biopotentials generated from two parts of a pregnant uterus. Moreover, this correlation seems to be higher as a labour is upcoming. It suggests a possibility of using the h2index for prediction of an upcoming labour based on EHG signals.