Transvaginal and/or transcervical fetal oximetry probes may be configured to take measurements in the endocervical canal of a pregnant mammal that may be used to determine a fetal hemoglobin oxygen saturation level using, for example, oximetry, pulse oximetry, and/or tissue oxygen saturation calculations. Transurethral fetal oximetry probes may be configured to be inserted into a urethra of a pregnant mammal and be positioned proximate to a wall of a bladder of the pregnant mammal proximate to the fetus. Once in position, the Transurethral fetal oximetry probe may take measurements that may be used to determine a fetal hemoglobin oxygen saturation level using, for example, oximetry, pulse oximetry, and/or tissue oxygen saturation calculations.

In part, the disclosure relates to a safety monitor and related methods to evaluate and manage intrapartum uterine contractions induced or augmented by Pitocin or other contraction inducing agents. The systems and methods include measuring a contraction parameter that may include one or more of frequency, strength, and duration of uterine contractions through a measurement device connected to a monitor. The systems and methods are programmed to stop the pump-based administration of a contraction inducing agent. Various lock out protocols and control over the ability to re-start a given pump are also described herein.

An ultrasound system includes: an ultrasound device having a two-dimensional array of ultrasound transducers; and a smartphone or tablet in operative communication with the ultrasound device. The ultrasound system is configured to: collect multiple sets of ultrasound data from multiple regions within the subject; detect fetal heartbeat signals and uterine contraction signals; monitor a fetal heartbeat signal among the fetal heartbeat signals by automatically steering an ultrasound beam to a first region among the multiple regions within the subject to collect first further ultrasound data from the first region based on a quality of the fetal heartbeat signal; and monitor a uterine contraction signal among the uterine contraction signals by automatically steering the ultrasound beam to a second region among the multiple regions within the subject to collect second further ultrasound data from the second region based on a quality of the uterine contraction signal.

Methods and devices for monitoring and changing the physical orientation of an individual are provided. A method includes providing a wearable device that monitors the physical orientation of an individual, monitoring the physical orientation over time using the wearable device, and issuing an alert from the wearable device to change the physical orientation by a prescribed amount when the individual has maintained the physical orientation for a duration exceeding a maximum length. The wearable device is optionally configured to issue subsequent alerts upon determining that the physical orientation has not changed following the duration. The alerts are optionally of varying natures and issued to, for example, the individual, people nearby, and/or caregivers outside the individual's room.

A sensor network for pregnancy monitoring of a subject includes a plurality of sensor systems time-synchronized to each other, each sensor system placed on a respective region of the subject and having a sensor member configured to detect data associated with at least one of physiological parameters of the subject, and a Bluetooth low energy system-on-a-chip configured to process and transmit the detected data; and a controller adapted in wireless communication with the plurality of sensor systems and configured to receive, from the plurality of sensor systems, to process, and to display the physiological parameters.

In one aspect, an apparatus for monitoring a physiological condition of a patient is disclosed. The apparatus includes a body having an attachment portion configured to be inserted into the skin of a patient to affix the body to the patient. The apparatus includes a sensor coupled to the body that is configured to generate sensor data corresponding to a physiological condition of the patient when the body is secured to the skin of the patient. The apparatus further includes a reference sensor that is remote from the sensor coupled to the body and is configured to engage an outer surface of skin to generate reference data against which the sensor data is compared.

In the present invention, a system and associated method is provided for monitoring fetal vital parameters. The system includes a base unit, a monitoring hub including a digital signal processor/controller and operably connected to the base unit by a single channel digital signal protocol cable, e.g., a USB cable, and a number of fetal monitoring sensors operably connected to the monitoring hub. The controller processes the signals from the sensors into a single USB protocol which can be sent along a single cable to the base unit. The USB cable allows power to be supplied to the hub in order to charge a battery used to operate the hub and the sensors connected to the hub when disconnected from the base unit to allow the patient using the hub to move freely about the base unit, with all sensor signals from the hub being wirelessly transmitted to the base unit.

Systems and methods are described, and one method includes determining a fetal blood oxygenation level, including: activating at least one light source with at least two distinct wavelengths of light on an abdomen of a pregnant mammal to direct light into a maternal abdomen toward a fetus; receiving a set of mixed signals from a set of photodetectors positioned at different locations on the maternal abdomen from reflected light that traverses maternal tissue or maternal tissue and fetal tissue; determining the fetal blood oxygenation level by performing computations on a composite fetal signal produced from the mixed signals; and ensuring a skin temperature of the maternal abdomen does not rise to unsafe levels due to activating the at least one light source.

A method includes receiving acoustic inputs; generating signal channels from the acoustic inputs; pre-processing data in the signal channels; extracting S1-S2 peaks from the pre-processed data; removing artifacts and outliers from the S1-S2 peaks; generating S1-S2 signal channels based on the S1-S2 peaks in the pre-processed signal channels; selecting two or more of the S1-S2 signal channels; and combining the selected two or more S1-S2 signal channels to produce an acoustic uterine monitoring signal.

A sensor interface system for providing a connection between at least one sensor and a maternal-fetal monitor, wherein the interface system converts electrical muscle activity captured by the sensor(s) into uterine activity data signals for use by the maternal-fetal monitor. The sensor interface system of the invention preferably includes a conversion means for converting the signals from the sensor(s) into signals similar to those produced by a tocodynamometer.