Computerized analysis of the fetal electrocardiogram has been developed during the past 40 years. A mature system for ST analysis (STAN) has resulted from a series of laboratory and clinical studies. The current STAN system provides adjunctive information to the standard interpretation of fetal heart rate (FHR) patterns. This monograph describes the basis for the STAN methodology, including the...

INTRODUCTION The fetal acoustic stimulation test (FAST) is a simple cost effective screening test for antenatal fetal monitoring. The aim of the study was to evaluate the FAST as a screening test for early intrapartum fetal well being. METHODS An initial non stress test (NST) followed by a FAST using corometric model 146 was carried out in 486 participants in early labour with uncomplicated s...

Monitoring procedures are the basis to evaluate the clinical state of patients and to assess changes in their conditions, thus providing necessary interventions in time. Both these two objectives can be achieved by integrating technological development with methodological tools, thus allowing accurate classification and extraction of useful diagnostic information. The paper is focused on monito...

Cardiotocography is a biophysical method of fetal monitoring during pregnancy and labour. It is mainly based on recording and analysis of fetal heart activity. The computerized fetal monitoring systems provide the quantitative description of the recorded signals but the effective methods supporting the conclusion generation are still needed. The evaluation of the signal can be made using criter...

OBJECTIVE/AIMS To investigate the presence of signal ambiguity of intrapartum fetal heart rate (FHR) monitoring during delivery by comparing simultaneous cardiotocogram (CTG), abdominal fetal electrocardiogram (ECG) with continuous maternal ECG. METHODS A total of 144 simultaneous CTG (Corometrics 250 series), abdominal fetal ECG (Monica -AN24™) and maternal ECG (Monica AN24™) recordings were...

Monitoring the fetal heart rate (FHR) throughout pregnancy empowers the clinician to diagnose fetal well being, characterize fetal development and detect abnormality (Freeman et al. 2003). A non-invasive and low cost system would enable monitoring of normal pregnancies and promote large population studies of fetal physiological development (Freeman et al. 2003). FHR monitoring is an ongoing obs...

Fetal brain injury resulting from hypoxia and ischemia during labor remains an important cause of death and long-term disability. However, little is known about fetal brain oxygenation and hemodynamics. There are currently no satisfactory clinical techniques for fetal monitoring and there remains a need for a new method to assess brain oxygenation. Fetal near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a n...

Fetal heart rate surveillance is a standard component of intrapartum care. The fetal heart rate can be evaluated using intermittent auscultation or electronic fetal monitoring. Research that has compared these 2 strategies found them to be equivalent with respect to long-term neonatal outcomes. The purpose of this clinical bulletin by the American College of Nurse-Midwives is to review the evid...

A variety of systems for centralised viewing of fetal signals during labour are currently available, allowing simultaneous monitoring of multiple tracings in one or more locations. Display of maternal vital signs, ST signals and an electronic partogram are available in the majority of these systems. A few of them have incorporated computer analysis of cardiotocographic signals or combined cardi...