A Computerization Proposal of the Registration of Routine Ultrasonocephalometric Examination of the Fetus

Abstract

As cephalometric ultrasonography of the population of the fetuses provides a great amount of numeric information, the traditional methods of handling the data have become more and more timeconsuming and therefore less efficient. In general, our procedures of input, storing, processing and output of medical data on fetus development make possible, among others, a better evaluation of fetus’s mass which is a decisive parameter in respect to the post-natal care of a neonate, and allows to determine the probability of fetus’s pre- or post-delivery lethality. . The computer input data are to be found on the form entitled “CEPHALOGRAPHIC EXAMINATION of FETUS by ULTRASONOMETRY” which is made up of three parts. Part I: DEMOGRAPHIC and Anamnestic Data. This part appears only once. Part II: Fetometric Data. This part appears at each examination. Part III: Neonate’s Data. This part appears only once. There are three modes of operating the system: Automatic: The ultrasonograph operates on-line with a CPU. The Demographic and Anamnestic Data are keyed into the memory and visualized on the screen. The Fetometric Data from the ultrasonograph are automatically entered into the computer. The Neonate’s Data are entered by a nurse or a physician. Semiautomatic: the ultra-sonograph operates off-line. The computer or terminal, i.e. the VDU, keyboard and printer are located are located near the ultrasonograph. All data are entered manually by a nurse or a physician and visualized on the screen for verification. Manual: The ultrasonographic laboratory operates in isolation form the computer system. The measurement results are filled into appropriate source documents which are physically transferred to the system input station and entered manually. The layout of the source documents please find enclosed.