Tele-cardiotocograph enabled by mobile technology

Abstract

Tocolysis is a treatment to prevent premature labor and thus can reduce the happening of perinatal and neonatal mortality. In developed and developing countries, the increasing of elderly primigravidae usually accompanies the increase in the preterm birth rate and therefore raises the need for tocolysis. To fulfill the increasing need, more tocolytic centers have been established, such as the one in Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taiwan. However, as emergent situations happen and doctors in charge are not on-site, a tele-cardiotocograph system is needed to help doctors to give proper advice by providing real-time CTG data. Currently, the solution practiced in Mackay Memorial Hospital is to send photos of the cardiotocogram to doctors by email or MMS. In this work, the team from NCTU and ITRI collaborated with Maya, Inc. to develop a remote vital sign access system called FetalCare to improve the solution in Mackay Memorial Hospital by utilizing mobile technology. With the developed system, doctors can remotely access real-time physiological data of patients via our app.