Monitoring of the intrauterine state of the fetus. Question history. New possibilities of phonocardiography

Abstract

The problem of decreasing perinatal mortality is one of the pressing problems in modern obstetrics. Unfortunately, current methods of monitoring the intrauterine state of the fetus that are at the disposal of an obstetrician – gynecologist (сardiotocography, Doppler velocimetry) do not guarantee fetal wellbeing in the near-term outlook, and the number of tests is limited due to safety concerns. Consequently, there is ongoing search for alternative methods of obtaining information about the intrauterine state of the fetus (phonocardiography, electrocardiography). Using IT and mathematical data analysis has considerably enlarged the phonocardiography potential, including implementation of remote monitoring of the fetal health state. A Tomsk-based company Diagnostika + LCC developed software and hardware appliance FetalCare aimed at 24-hour monitoring of the intrauterine state of the fetus based on audio data on the fetal cardiovascular system. Cardiointervalograms (CIG) obtained by phonocardiography allow to estimate the state of the fetus based on standard assessment criteria: basal heart rate, heart rate variability, presence of accelerations and decelerations, short-term variation (STV), and long-term variation (LTV). The developed appliance is non-invasive, relatively cheap, portable, and safe both for the mother and the fetus.