Patent · US Expired

Noninvasive electrocardiographic method of real time signal processing for obtaining and displaying instantaneous fetal heart rate and fetal heart rate beat-to-beat variability

US5042499A · kind A · utility

89Cited by
11References
68Claims
0Family size

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateAug 2, 1990
Grant dateAug 27, 1991
Priority date
Expiry dateAug 2, 2010

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
  • CPC primaryA61B5/4362
  • WIPO fieldMedical technology
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

A fetal heart rate monitor monitors weak fetal electrocardiogram signals in the presence of strong interfering material ECG complexes, general random background muscle noise, and 60 Hz power line noise. An electrocardiographic adaptive cancellation process to cancel the maternal ECG component from an abdominal ECG signal recorded from a pregnant subject's abdomen signal is processed using computer software. A set of easily movable maternal abdominal and thoracic ECG electrodes is used. An operator views the ECG data in an oscilloscope and optimally places the set of thoracic electrodes to adaptively cancel the maternal ECG signal from the signal separately derived from a movable abdominal electrocardiographic lead. The invention noninvasively obtains from the abdomen of a pregnant subject the fetal ECG signal, fetal heart rate, and accurate beat-to-beat fetal heart rate variability. Computer software provides cancellation of the maternal ECG component derived from a maternal abdominal ECG lead using a separate set of maternal thoracic ECG leads. A starting fetal ECG signal is obtained from an electrocardiographic digital signal processing normalized correlation automatic start-up p…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.