A vaginal dilation device is provided that may include any of a number of features. One feature of the vaginal dilation device is that it is configured to dilate vaginal tissue during labor to prevent tissue damage. Another feature of the vaginal dilation device is that it can be manually controlled to dilate vaginal tissue, or can be automatically controlled to dilate vaginal tissue. In some embodiments, the vaginal dilation device is configured to measure a force applied by the device to tissue. In other embodiments, the vaginal dilation device is configured to apply a constant force to tissue. In other embodiments, the vaginal dilation device is configured to expand at a constant rate. Methods associated with use of the vaginal dilation device are also provided.

Apparatus and methods are described including using a sensor to monitor a sleeping subject and generate a signal in response to the monitoring. A control unit is used to accept an input indicative of a person desiring to perform an activity that is potentially disturbing to the sleep of the subject, analyze the sensor signal, in response to the analyzing, identify a time during which the activity is likely to be less disturbing to the sleep of the subject, relative to another time, and generate a notification indicating a suitability of performing the activity at the identified time. Other applications are also described.

Methods and system are described for multi-modal, multi-parametric, non-invasive, and real-time assessment of cervical tissue through a multi-modal probe device for use within a vaginal canal and an associated imaging system to assess a risk of preterm delivery of an expectant mother. The multi-modal system may include ultrasound (US) imaging, viscoelastic (VE) imaging, and/or photoacoustic (PA) imaging of the cervical issue to determine cervical biomarker information indicative of parameters including, but not limited to, a collagen to water ratio such that a more water dominant ratio is indicative of a risk of preterm delivery.

The disclosed apparatus, systems and methods relate to tracking abdominal orientation and activity for purposes of preventing or treating conditions of pregnancy, respiratory diseases or other types of medical conditions. In certain specific embodiments, the system, device, or method relates to identifying abdominal or sleep position orientation risk values, calculating and updating a cumulative risk value, comparing the cumulative risk value to a threshold, and outputting a warning when the cumulative risk value crosses the threshold.

The present disclosure relates to apparatuses and a method for wireless health monitoring comprising dynamically adjusting sound data compression level and/or transmission bandwidth of transmission between a mobile transmitter and a receiver. In some embodiments, a method for wireless health monitoring may include calculating (202) a distance between a mobile transmitter (104) and a receiver (110). A data compression (108) level for compressing a signal, e.g., a sound signal, from the transmitter may be determined out of a plurality of data compression levels based on the distance between the transmitter and the receiver. A transmission bandwidth may then be determined (208) based at least in part on the determined data compression level. The compressed signal may be transmitted (210) using the determined transmission bandwidth.

A computer-implemented method for predicting the delivery time of a pregnant woman, including detecting at least one body parameter of the pregnant woman at multiple points in time, a calculation unit carrying out a pattern recognition with regard to the development of the at least one body parameter over time, and calculating a predicted delivery time or delivery period based on the pattern recognition. An electronic system for predicting the delivery time of a pregnant woman is also disclosed.

The invention relates to a vaginal fluid monitoring device embedded into a feminine sanitary pad, said device comprising a stack of the following elements: An absorbent layer (100) configured to be in proximity to, and collect, a vaginal fluid; and A biosensing system (1000) in fluidic connection with said absorbent layer (100), said biosensing system (1000) comprising: A microfluidic chip (200) configured to perform an immunoassay to detect the presence and/or the concentration of at least one target biomarker comprised in a vaginal fluid; Means (300) for providing a readout of the presence and/or the concentration of said at least one target biomarker; and An electrode array (400) located along the microfluidic chip (200) configured to detect and analyze the flow of said vaginal fluid by impedance means; wherein said immunoassay is configured to detect the presence and/or the concentration of at least one target biomarker indicative of a pre-term birth (PTB) risk and/or premature rupture of membrane (PROM) risk. The invention also relates to a method for detecting at least one target biomarker comprised in a vaginal fluid.

A method for assessment and/or monitoring a person's cardiovascular state comprises: using a sound and vibration transducer to acquire a vascular sound signal in order to detect a vascular sound from a cervical, thoracic, abdominal, pelvic, or lower limb region of the person; filtering the vascular sound signal to isolate the vascular sound, said filtering using a filter which attenuates frequencies below a lower cut-off frequency in a range of 100-300 Hz; and analyzing the filtered sound signal in order to determine whether an indication of a dicrotic notch in the vascular sound exceeds a set threshold.

A system and method is provided for monitoring the fetal position and/or orientation of the fetus of an expectant mother. An acoustic sensor array is positioned over the belly. The pattern of acoustic sensor signals is processed to determine a fetal orientation and/or to determine movement over time of the fetus.

In order to objectively grasp a stress state of a user and to prevent postpartum depression, biological gas information is acquired via a network, where the biological gas information indicates a concentration of ethylene glycol of the user and is obtained by a sensor that detects ethylene glycol released from a skin surface of the user. From a memory storing information including an upper limit of a normal range of the concentration of ethylene glycol per unit period, the information indicating the upper limit of the normal range is read out. When a frequency in the unit period with which the concentration of ethylene glycol of the user exceeds the upper limit of the normal range is determined to have an increasing tendency based on the biological gas information obtained during a pregnancy period of the user, the information related to stress of the user is output to an information terminal of the user.