Examination and Optimization of the Fetal Heart Rate Monitor : Evaluation of the effect influencing the measuring system of the Fetal Heart Rate Monitor

Abstract

Long-term monitoring of the fetal heart rate (fHR) is important to control the fetal well-being. One of the promising methods for fetal monitoring is fetal phonocardiography which is based on recording fetal heart sounds. This paper presents a compact low-cost device for multi lead fHR measurement. The device introduced allows monitoring of fHR non-invasively and with no side effects for the mother or the foetus. In this case, the device presented is used to measure HR of the adult to compare the performance of various stethoscope heads. In addition to this measurement, the LabVIEW application for signal processing and analysis was improved.