Study Of The Methodology For Fetal Heart Rate Auto-extraction From The Abdominal Electrocardiogram

Fetal heart rate, as an important clinical criterion to evaluate the fetus’ healthycondition in the womb, has become one of the most principal monitoring items in thefetal monitoring. Also the monitoring of FHR can assure the baby and mother’s safetyand achieve the goal of the good prenatal and postnatal care. Nowadays it is an idealand non-invasive method to detect fetal heart rate from the FECG which separated fromthe abdominal mixed ECG signals through some electrodes. However, there are toomany things making the separation of FECG difficult. One is the destruction of theMECG, EMG, mother’s breath and other noise when attain the clear mixed ECG fromthe abdomen. The other is the weakness of the FECG signal which power is just aquarter of the abdominal mixed ECG. What’s more, the extraction of FECG is alsoinfluenced by the placement sites of electrodes, as well as the position of the fetal in thewomb and also the actual fetus gestational age.This article, through the research into the recent FHR monitoring methods, hassettled down the way: combined a floated DSP-TMS320C6713and a SOC just for ECGdetection-ADS1298to complete the abdominal mixed ECG detection system. UsingDSP to control ADS1298to collect and amplify the mixed ECG from the abdomen ofpregnant women. Our method, firstly, uses the FIR digital filter to filter out the noise.Secondly, using improved independent component analysis to extract the fetal ECGfrom three channels of the abdominal mixed ECG signals to get FHR. Experimentalresults showed that this system can detect mixed maternal ECG signals and extract fetalheart rate accurately.This system is suitable for long-term dynamic monitoring of the fetus, for it iseasy-carrying and low-power. Besides, it can provide a reliable basis for the healthcondition of the fetus during pregnancy and labor, and improve the level of perinatalhealth care.