Fetal Health Assessment Through Remote Fetal Phonocardiography and Electrohysterography: Wearable Wireless Device Using Shakti Processor

Abstract

Pregnant women and neonates are the most affected demographic group by the shortfall of accessible healthcare. In this work, we aimed to improve obstetric facilities in rural India by proposing a remote maternal health monitoring device in which pregnant women can avail healthcare services without long-distance travel. We designed and developed a prototype of the proposed device using the open-source Shakti processor to provide remote real-time monitoring of the fetal heart rate and uterine contractions for the detection of any abnormalities. Fetal phonocardiography signal was picked up using an acoustic sensor while the electrohysterography signal was acquired using surface electrodes placed on a pregnant woman. The placement of the sensor and electrodes was referred by an obstetrician. The system was placed on 10 pregnant women in their last trimester with their informed consent and the monitored parameters were validated by a clinician. The obtained fetal heart rate and uterine contractions were compared with that from standard clinical devices and the results from the proposed device were observed to be comparable with that of the standard devices.