Abstract
The foetal heart rate (FHR) response to uterine contractions is crucial to detect foetal distress by electronic FHR monitoring during labour. We are developing a new automated system (OxSys) for decision support in labour, using the Oxford database of intrapartum FHR records. We describe here a novel technique for automated detection of uterus contractions. In addition, we present a comparison of the new method with four other computerised approaches. During training, OxSys achieved sensitivity above 95% and positive predictive value (PPV) of up to 90% for traces of good quality. During testing, OxSys achieved sensitivity = 87% and PPV = 75%. For comparison, a second clinical expert obtained sensitivity = 93% and PPV = 80%, and all other computerised approaches achieved lower values. It was concluded that the proposed method can be employed with confidence in our study on foetal health assessment in labour and future OxSys development.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Linda Holden and Mary Moulden from the JR Hospital (Oxford) for producing the reference set. This study has been supported in part by the Oxford National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre Program.
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Georgieva, A., Payne, S.J. & Redman, C.W.G. Computerised electronic foetal heart rate monitoring in labour: automated contraction identification. Med Biol Eng Comput 47, 1315–1320 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-009-0538-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-009-0538-9