Title :
Chaotic analysis of fetal heart rate variability
Author :
Borserio, D. ; Villanueva, H. ; Falconer, J.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Newcastle Univ., NSW, Australia
Abstract :
Fetal heart rate variability has long been considered an indicator of fetal health, with a decrease in variability associated with the progression of disease. The purpose of this study was to develop an index of fetal health by applying the nonlinear analytic techniques of chaotic systems to measurements of the beat-to-beat intervals of the fetal heart. This study was carried out using Doppler ultrasound data obtained from 30 patients in advanced stages of pregnancy, the fetuses between 36 and 40 weeks of gestation. The index used to determine the degree of variability in the fetal heart, and thus the health of the fetus, was the correlation dimension (CD). This was calculated from the interbeat intervals (IBI) using the method of time delays. Results from the analysis indicated close correlation with the clinical diagnosis, showing healthy fetuses with CDs above 7 and poor outcome (low birthweight) in fetuses with CD below 7
Keywords :
biomedical ultrasonics; 36 to 40 w; Doppler ultrasound data; chaotic analysis; clinical diagnosis; correlation dimension; disease progression; fetal health index; fetal heart rate variability; interbeat intervals; low birthweight; nonlinear analytic techniques; poor fetal outcome; Cardiac disease; Cardiovascular diseases; Chaos; Delay effects; Fetal heart; Fetal heart rate; Fetus; Pregnancy; Ultrasonic imaging; Ultrasonic variables measurement;
Conference_Titel :
Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 1994. Engineering Advances: New Opportunities for Biomedical Engineers. Proceedings of the 16th Annual International Conference of the IEEE
Conference_Location :
Baltimore, MD
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-2050-6
DOI :
10.1109/IEMBS.1994.415421
