The present disclosure relates to a maternal monitoring transducer (20), comprising a housing (60), a substrate board (72), particularly a PCB (70), disposed in the housing (60) and comprising control components (74), and a displacement measurement arrangement (76) comprising a displacement-sensitive structure (78) that is arranged to detect deformations of a deflectable measurement section (80) of the substrate board (72), wherein the maternal monitoring transducer (20) supplies a signal that is representative of maternal motion. The disclosure further relates to a method of operating a maternal monitoring transducer (20).

Disclosed are flexible and stretchable antenna devices, systems and methods of use and manufacture. In some aspects, a flexible and stretchable antenna device includes an adhesive substrate having flexible and stretchable material properties and capable of adhering to a surface of an object; and an antenna attached on or at least partially embedded within the adhesive substrate, the antenna including a radiating element and a ground element, in which one or both of the radiating element and the ground element include a mesh structure allowing the antenna device to transmit or receive wireless communication signals at a predetermined operating frequency while being stretched.

Described herein are systems and methods for contraction monitoring. For example, a system for contraction monitoring includes an electrode patch including at least two electrodes, and a sensor module configured to be connected to the electrode patch. In some embodiments, the sensor module includes a signal acquisition module, a signal processing module, a power management module, a sensor control module, and a memory module and/or a data transmission module. In some embodiments, a method for contraction monitoring includes measuring, using the signal acquisition module, bio-potential signals by providing at least two electrodes on the abdomen of a pregnant woman. In some embodiments, a method for contraction monitoring includes processing, using the signal processing module, the bio-potential signal to extract electrohysterogram signals, maternal electrocardiogram signals and fetus electrocardiogram signals, and processing using the signal processing module, the individual signals to extract uterine contraction.

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.

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).

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 ionic material and a resin, in which the ionic material is a lithium salt, a sodium salt, a potassium salt, a calcium salt, or an ammonium salt of sulphonamide represented by the following general formula (1).

[R.sup.1C(O)N.sup.SO.sub.2Rf.sub.1].sub.nM.sup.n+(1)

A seamless, smart fetal monitoring garment and methods of using thereof. The system includes a knitted or interwoven garment having a multiplicity of conductive textile electrodes for sensing maternal and fetal electrical vital signals. The maternal and fetal electrical vital signals are selected from a group including maternal heart rate, fetal heart rate and electromyogram (EMG) activities including uterine activities. The method includes wearing the garment, acquiring electrical mixed common, maternal and fetal vital signals from surface region of a pregnant woman, using the plurality of textile electrodes, optimally weighted summing-up the acquired signals, analyzing the summed-up signals to thereby extract the maternal signal and the fetal signal, including determining their heart rates, and including detecting health hazards and in some embodiments, including detecting a uterine contraction sequence suggesting the need to be hospitalized for birth giving.

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.

An electrical stimulation and bio-potential measurement device is provided. The electrical stimulation and bio-potential measurement device comprises at least one electrode module which comes into contact with the scalp of a user, a current supply unit, connected to the at least one electrode module, for supplying a current to the at least one electrode module so that the at least one electrode module can apply electrical stimulation to the user, and a signal processing unit, connected to the at least one electrode module, for processing bio-potential signals detected by the at least one electrode module, wherein the current supply unit comprises at least one switch which is arranged between the at least one electrode module and a voltage source for supplying the current.

In one embodiment, a first magnetoresistive effect element, a current supply unit and a detecting unit is provided. The first magnetoresistive effect element is provided between first and second electrodes and along a first direction which is a current flowing direction between the first and the second electrode. The first magnetoresistive effect element includes first and second magnetic layers and a first intermediate layer provided between the first and the second magnetic layer and along the first direction and a second direction orthogonal to the first direction. The current supply unit is connected to the first and the second electrode and can supply an alternating current. The detecting unit detects a second harmonic component of an alternating current voltage signal outputted from the first magnetoresistive effect element. A length of the first magnetoresistive effect element in the first direction is larger than a length in the second direction.