The present invention relates to a pregnancy monitoring system, the system comprising a fetal monitoring transducer (20) arranged to detect fetal medical condition information; and a control device (48) comprising a motion assessment unit (50) and a signal output unit (52); wherein the fetal monitoring transducer (20) is arranged to detect fetal movement indicative information, wherein the motion assessment unit (50) is arranged to process fetal movement grading information, in addition to the fetal movement indicative information, wherein the signal output unit (52) is arranged to simultaneously output a fetal condition signal, particularly a fetal heart rate signal, and an augmented fetal movement signal based on the fetal movement indicative information and the fetal movement grading information, wherein a characteristic property of the original fetal movement information is still present in the augmented fetal movement signal. The disclosure further relates to a corresponding pregnancy monitoring method.

Apparatus and methods for monitoring pregnancy or labour are disclosed. In one embodiment the apparatus includes an electromyography (EMG) sensor having two or more EMG electrodes to monitor fetal or maternal activity during pregnancy or labour and one or more position sensors to monitor the relative positioning of the two or more EMG electrodes during the fetal or maternal activity. In one embodiment, the apparatus includes a monitoring device to be placed on a body and having a plurality of sensors integrated into the monitoring device, the plurality of sensors including at least: a first sensor configured to detect a first type of signal from the body indicative of a first type of fetal or maternal activity during pregnancy or labour; and a second sensor configured to detect a second type of signal from the body, different from the first type of signal, also indicative of the first type of fetal or maternal activity during pregnancy or labour.

A method and communications module for recommending in what manner or mode a sensor and communications module of a subject monitoring system should communicate. A determination is made as to whether or not more than a predetermined number of wireless channels have a noise level below a certain threshold. If a positive determination is made, a wireless communication mode is recommended. If a negative determination is made, a wireless communication mode is not recommended.

System (10) for extracting a fetal heart rate from at least one maternal signal using a computer processor (26). The system includes sensors (12-18) attached to a patient to receive abdominal ECG signals and a recorder and digitizer (20) to record and digitize each at least one maternal signal in a maternal signal buffer (22A-22D). The system further includes a peak detector (40) to identify candidate peaks in the maternal signal buffer. The signal stacker (42) of the system stacks the divides at least one maternal signal buffer into a plurality of snippets, each snippet including one candidate peak and a spatial filter (44) to identify and attenuate a maternal QRS signal in the plurality of snippets of the maternal signal buffer, the spatial filter including at least one of principal component analysis and orthogonal projection, to produce a raw fetal ECG signal which is stored in a raw fetal ECG buffer. The system further includes a fetal QRS identifier (46) for identifying peaks in the raw fetal ECG buffer by at least one of principal component analysis and a peak-detector followed by rule based fQRS extraction and a merger (48) to calculate and merge the fetal heart rate from the identified peaks.

System (10) for extracting a fetal heart rate from at least one maternal signal using a computer processor (26). The system includes sensors (12-18) attached to a patient to receive abdominal ECG signals and a recorder and digitizer (20) to record and digitize each at least one maternal signal in a maternal signal buffer (22A-22D). The system further includes a peak detector (40) to identify candidate peaks in the maternal signal buffer. The signal stacker (42) of the system stacks the divides at least one maternal signal buffer into a plurality of snippets, each snippet including one candidate peak and a spatial filter (44) to identify and attenuate a maternal QRS signal in the plurality of snippets of the maternal signal buffer, the spatial filter including at least one of principal component analysis and orthogonal projection, to produce a raw fetal ECG signal which is stored in a raw fetal ECG buffer. The system further includes a fetal QRS identifier (46) for identifying peaks in the raw fetal ECG buffer by at least one of principal component analysis and a peak-detector followed by rule based fQRS extraction and a merger (48) to calculate and merge the fetal heart rate from the identified peaks.

An apparatus for acquiring signals from a pregnant subject includes a flexible portion that is conformable to an abdomen of the subject. The flexible portion includes a plurality of signal acquisition points, each signal acquisition point comprising a contact adapted to electrically couple to a respective electrode and signal acquisition circuitry. The flexible portion includes a first linear section that is generally aligned along a first axis; and a second linear section extending from the first linear section, the second linear section being generally aligned along a second axis that is perpendicular to the first axis; wherein a first group of the signal acquisition points is located along the first axis and a second group of the signal acquisition points is located along the second axis.

An apparatus for acquiring signals from a pregnant subject includes a flexible portion that is conformable to an abdomen of the subject. The flexible portion includes a plurality of signal acquisition points, each signal acquisition point comprising a contact adapted to electrically couple to a respective electrode and signal acquisition circuitry. The flexible portion includes a first linear section that is generally aligned along a first axis; and a second linear section extending from the first linear section, the second linear section being generally aligned along a second axis that is perpendicular to the first axis; wherein a first group of the signal acquisition points is located along the first axis and a second group of the signal acquisition points is located along the second axis.

Provided is a fetal heart rate variability monitoring device capable of easily determining a fetal condition. A fetal heart rate variability monitoring device includes a processing unit and a display unit that acquire a fetal heart rate and display a fetal heart rate diagram showing the fetal heart rate over time, an LTV and STV conversion processing unit that calculates STV and LTV from the fetal heart rate, and an event input unit that can designate a predetermined period on the fetal heart rate diagram. The processing unit and the display unit have a function of issuing notification of the STV and LTV in the predetermined period calculated by the LTV and STV conversion processing unit when the predetermined period is designated by the event input unit.

Provided is a fetal heart rate variability monitoring device capable of easily determining a fetal condition. A fetal heart rate variability monitoring device includes a processing unit and a display unit that acquire a fetal heart rate and display a fetal heart rate diagram showing the fetal heart rate over time, an LTV and STV conversion processing unit that calculates STV and LTV from the fetal heart rate, and an event input unit that can designate a predetermined period on the fetal heart rate diagram. The processing unit and the display unit have a function of issuing notification of the STV and LTV in the predetermined period calculated by the LTV and STV conversion processing unit when the predetermined period is designated by the event input unit.

A computer-implemented method includes providing, by at least one computer processor, a plurality of signal channels, wherein the plurality of signal channels includes a plurality of electrical uterine monitoring signal channels and a plurality of acoustic uterine monitoring signal channels; determining, by the at least one computer processor, a plurality of channel weights, wherein each of the channel weights corresponds to a particular one of the signal channels; and generating, by the at least one computer processor, a combined uterine monitoring signal channel by calculating a weighted average of the signal channels based on the channel weight for each of the signal channels.