Antepartum fetal electrocardiogram extraction and analysis

A PC based instrument has been developed to extract and analyse the fetal electrocardiogram (FECG) obtained via surface electrodes from the maternal abdomen. This is capable of running either off-line, using recorded signals, or on-line for use by a clinician during routine antenatal examinations. The system produces maternal and fetal beat-to-beat heart rate information, coherently averaged maternal and FECG complexes and an analysis of the FECG complex showing such parameters as PR duration and QRS width. Results have been obtained from over 50 recordings from volunteers of gestational ages between 20 and 39 weeks.<
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