Vullings R, Mischi M
Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2013;2013:2915-8. doi: 10.1109/EMBC.2013.6610150.
Reduced fetal movement is an important parameter to assess fetal distress. Currently, no suitable methods are available that can objectively assess fetal movement during pregnancy. Fetal vectorcardiographic (VCG) loop alignment could be such a method. In general, the goal of VCG loop alignment is to correct for motion-induced changes in the VCGs of (multiple) consecutive heartbeats. However, the parameters used for loop alignment also provide information to assess fetal movement. Unfortunately, current methods for VCG loop alignment are not robust against low-quality VCG signals. In this paper, a more robust method for VCG loop alignment is developed that includes a priori information on the loop alignment, yielding a maximum a posteriori loop alignment. Classification, based on movement parameters extracted from the alignment, is subsequently performed using support vector machines, resulting in correct classification of (absence of) fetal movement in about 75% of cases. After additional validation and optimization, this method can possibly be employed for continuous fetal movement monitoring.
胎动减少是评估胎儿窘迫的一个重要参数。目前，尚无合适的方法可用于客观评估孕期的胎动情况。胎儿向量心电图（VCG）环对齐可能是这样一种方法。一般来说，VCG环对齐的目的是校正（多个）连续心跳的VCG中由运动引起的变化。然而，用于环对齐的参数也提供了评估胎儿运动的信息。不幸的是，当前的VCG环对齐方法对低质量的VCG信号不够稳健。在本文中，开发了一种更稳健的VCG环对齐方法，该方法包括关于环对齐的先验信息，从而产生最大后验环对齐。随后，使用支持向量机基于从对齐中提取的运动参数进行分类，在约75%的病例中能够正确分类（有无）胎儿运动。经过进一步验证和优化后，该方法可能可用于连续的胎儿运动监测。
