Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Computerised electronic foetal heart rate monitoring in labour: automated contraction identification

  • Technical Note
  • Published:
Medical & Biological Engineering & Computing Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The foetal heart rate (FHR) response to uterine contractions is crucial to detect foetal distress by electronic FHR monitoring during labour. We are developing a new automated system (OxSys) for decision support in labour, using the Oxford database of intrapartum FHR records. We describe here a novel technique for automated detection of uterus contractions. In addition, we present a comparison of the new method with four other computerised approaches. During training, OxSys achieved sensitivity above 95% and positive predictive value (PPV) of up to 90% for traces of good quality. During testing, OxSys achieved sensitivity = 87% and PPV = 75%. For comparison, a second clinical expert obtained sensitivity = 93% and PPV = 80%, and all other computerised approaches achieved lower values. It was concluded that the proposed method can be employed with confidence in our study on foetal health assessment in labour and future OxSys development.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

References

  1. Ayres-de-Campos D, Bernardes J, Garrido A, Marques-de-sá J, Pereira-Leite L (2000) SisPorto 2.0: a program for automated analysis of cardiotocograms. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med 9:311–318

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Cazares S, Moulden M, Redman CWG, Tarassenko L (2001) Tracking poles with autoregressive model: a confidence index for the analysis of the intrapartum cardiotocogram. Med Eng Phys 23:603–614

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Cazares S (2002) Automated identification of abnormal patterns in the intrapartum cardiotocogram (dissertation). University of Oxford, UK

    Google Scholar 

  4. Chung TKH, Mohajer MP, Yang ZJ, Chang AMZ, Sahota DS (1995) The prediction of foetal acidosis at birth by computerized analysis of intrapartum cardiotocography. BJOG 102:454–460

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Cohen J (1960) A coefficient of agreement for nominal scales. Educ Psychol Meas 20:37–46

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Dawes GS, Houghton R, Redman CWG, Visser GHA (1982) The pattern of the normal human foetal heart rate. BJOG 89:276–284

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Dawes GS, Moulden M, Redman CWG (1991) System 8000: computerized antenatal FHR analysis. J Perinat Med 19:47–51

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Freeman R (2003) Foetal heart rate monitoring, 3rd edn. Williams and Wilkins, Philadelphia

  9. Glover F, Kochenberger GA (eds) (2002) Handbook of meta-heuristics, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston

  10. Hamilton E, Kimanani K (1994) Intrapartum prediction of foetal status and assessment of labour progress. Baillieres Clin Obstet Gynaecol 8:567–581

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Keith R (1993) Intelligent foetal monitoring and decision support in the management of labour (dissertation), University of Plymouth, UK

  12. Maeda K, Utsu M, Makio A, Serizawa M, Noguchi Y, Hamada T et al (1998) Neural network computer analysis of foetal heart rate. J Matern Fetal Investig 8:163–171

    Google Scholar 

  13. Pello LC, Rosevear SK, Dawes GS, Moulden M, Redman CWG (1991) Computerized foetal heart analysis in labour. J Obstet Gynaecol 78:602–610

    Google Scholar 

  14. Strachan B, Sahota DS, Wijngaarden WJ, James DK, Chang A (2001) Computerised analysis of the foetal heart rate and relation to acidaemia at delivery. BJOG 108:848–852

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Taillard ÉD, Waelti P, Zuber J (2008) Few statistical tests for proportions comparison. Eur J Oper Res 185:1336–1350

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Linda Holden and Mary Moulden from the JR Hospital (Oxford) for producing the reference set. This study has been supported in part by the Oxford National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre Program.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nuffield Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Oxford, Level 3, Women’s Centre, The John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK

    A. Georgieva & C. W. G. Redman

  2. Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    A. Georgieva & S. J. Payne

Authors
  1. A. Georgieva
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. S. J. Payne
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. C. W. G. Redman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. Georgieva.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Georgieva, A., Payne, S.J. & Redman, C.W.G. Computerised electronic foetal heart rate monitoring in labour: automated contraction identification. Med Biol Eng Comput 47, 1315–1320 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-009-0538-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-009-0538-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation