The present invention provides a bio-electrode that is excellent in conductivity and biocompatibility, is light-weight, can be manufactured at low cost, and can control significant reduction in conductivity even though the bio-electrode is soaked in water or dried. The present invention is accomplished by providing a conductive substrate and a living body contact layer formed on the conductive substrate, where the living body contact layer is a cured product of a bio-electrode composition including an (A) ionic material and a (B) resin other than the component (A), in which the component (A) has both a repeating unit a of a lithium salt, a sodium salt, a potassium salt, or an ammonium salt of sulfonamide including a partial structure represented by the following general formula (1) and a repeating unit b having a silicon atom, R.sup.1C(O)N.sup.SO.sub.2Rf.sub.1M.sup.+(1).

A system for monitoring a fetal heartbeat sound has a sensor matrix adapted to be placed adjacent to a fetus, a processor for receiving signals transmitted by the sensor matrix, a processor for receiving signals transmitted by the sensor matrix, and a display connected to the processor so as to provide a humanly perceivable indication of the heartbeat sound. The sensor matrix has a plurality of sensors of which at least one of which is facing the fetus. The processor identifies a fetal heartbeat sound from among other sounds. The sensor array is affixed to a wearable article that is adapted to be worn by mother.

An adhesive hydrogel has low contact resistance against the body surface and excellent conformability and adhesiveness to the body surface, so that noise generation can be reduced. Such adhesive hydrogel enables measurements of weak fetal heart rate signals. The adhesive hydrogel includes a polymer matrix prepared by crosslinking-copolymerization of an acrylamide derivative, which is a nonionic polymerizable monomer including a polymerizable carbon-carbon double bond in a molecule, and polyfunctional (meth)acrylamide, which is a crosslinkable monomer comprising 2 or more polymerizable carbon-carbon double bonds in a molecule, water, a polyvalent alcohol, and an electrolyte salt, wherein a laminate of the adhesive hydrogel with an Ag/AgCl sheet exhibits the impedance of 1 to 100 at the frequency of 0.1 Hz measured in accordance with the method of ANSI/AAMI EC12:2000, and the dynamic elastic modulus G at the frequency of 1 Hz measured at 25 C. and dispersed frequencies is 1.010.sup.3 Pa to 1.010.sup.4 Pa.

The present invention provides a bio-electrode composition capable of forming a living body contact layer for a bio-electrode that is excellent in conductivity and biocompatibility, is light-weight, can be manufactured at low cost, and can control significant reduction in conductivity even though the bio-electrode is soaked in water or dried. The present invention is accomplished by a bio-electrode composition including an (A) ionic material and a (B) resin other than the component (A), in which the component (A) has both a repeating unit a of a lithium salt, a sodium salt, a potassium salt, or an ammonium salt of sulfonamide including a partial structure represented by the following general formula (1) and a repeating unit b having a silicon atom,
R.sup.1C(O)N.sup.SO.sub.2Rf.sub.1M.sup.+(1).

An abdominal electrocardiogram processing system for determining a fetal heart rate of a fetus in a pregnant woman obtains a combined electrocardiogram measurement of a maternal heart rate and a fetal heart rate. The system then transforms the combined electrocardiogram measurement into a wavelet domain to create a combined electrocardiogram measurement wavelet transform. The system can then remove the maternal heart rate from the combined electrocardiogram measurement wavelet transform. The system then identifies a fetal heart rate from the compensated combined electrocardiogram measurement wavelet transform.

A system for assessing and monitoring a fetal electrocardiogram (ECG) and heart rate in a pregnant mother comprises wearable mechanical-electronic sensors, e.g., embedded in a wrist or arm band, which can measure mechanical pulse signals from the mother, and an abdomen patch which can measure the combined ECG signals of the fetus and mother. In another embodiment, the sensors in the wrist or arm band measure the combined fetal/maternal ECG signals, and the mother's mechanical pulse signals. By signal processing and gating out the maternal ECG signals as correlated with the mechanical maternal pulse signals, the fetal ECG and heart rate can be measured and monitored. These measurements may be displayed on the wrist or arm band device, or wirelessly through a remote device, mobile phone or computer. Sensors in the abdominal patch may also measure uterine electromyogram, uterine contractions, and fetal movements, to be correlated with the fetal ECG.

A fetal movement measuring device includes a detection unit and a smart device. The detection unit is selected from elastic materials and is attachable to an abdomen of a pregnant woman. The detection unit includes multiple branch sections extending outward therefrom. Each of the branch sections includes a fetal movement sensor and an electrode patch. The fetal movement sensor and the electrode patch are connected to a main circuit board to transmit an abdominal dynamic physiological signal detected by the fetal movement sensor and a fetal electrocardiographic signal detected by the electrode patch to the main circuit board. The smart device is operable to receive the abdominal dynamic physiological signal and the fetal electrocardiographic signal from the main circuit board and includes a fetal movement algorithm program that calculates and generates fetal movement data and the fetal heart rate.

A system for the assessment and monitoring of the fetal electrocardiogram (ECG) and heart rate in a pregnant mother comprises wearable mechanical-electronic sensors, e.g., embedded in a wrist or arm band, which can measure the mechanical pulse signals from the mother, and an abdomen patch which can measure the combined ECG signals of the fetus and mother. The wrist or arm unit and the abdominal patch unit communicate wirelessly. By signal processing and gating out the maternal ECG signals as correlated with the mechanical maternal pulse signals, the fetal ECG and heart rate can be measured and monitored. These measurements may be displayed on the wrist or arm band device, or wirelessly through a remote device, mobile phone or computer. Electronic-mechanical sensors can also be embedded in the abdominal patch to measure uterine electromyogram (EMG), uterine contractions and fetal movements, to be correlated with the fetal ECG.

Embodiments of the disclosure provide systems and methods for a garment comprising a fabric layer, a plurality of biometric sensors integrated into the fabric layer, and a connectivity layer integrated into the fabric layer. The connectivity layer can comprise signal conductors and power conductors coupled with each of the plurality of biometric sensors. The garment can further comprise a power source coupled with each of the power conductors and providing, via the power conductors of the connectivity layer, electrical power to each of the plurality of biometric sensors, a signal monitor coupled with the connectivity layer and receiving, via the signal conductors of the connectivity layer, a signal comprising biometric information from each of the plurality of biometric sensors, and a gateway coupled with the signal monitor, the gateway receiving the biometric information from the signal monitor and providing the biometric information to an external computer system.

Embodiments of the disclosure provide systems and methods for wearable dry electrodes for collecting biometric information. According to one embodiment, a dry electrode bio-sensor can comprise one or more conductive pads comprising electrodes of the dry electrode bio-sensor and one or more connectivity traces coupled with each of the one or more conductive pads. The connectivity traces can provide electrical connections for one or more of power to the one or more conductive pads or signals comprising biometric information from the one or more conductive pads. A backing can be coupled with and can retain the one or more conductive pads and the one or more connectivity traces. The dry electrode bio-sensor can comprise an electrocardiography (ECG) sensor, a respiration sensor, a PhotoPlethysmoGram (PPG) sensor, a temperature sensor, an electromyography (EMG) sensor, or another biometric sensor.