Cardiotocograph parameter estimation using MATLAB programming

The cardiotocogram (CTG) consists of a continuous recording of fetal heart rate (FHR) and uterine contractions (UC). FHR patterns are observed manually by obstetricians during the process of cardiotocographs analyses. Changes in the FHR patterns relative to contractions provide an induction of fetal health condition. Since late 1960s CTG was introduced into clinical practice and then it has been considered as an indispensable tool for fetal monitoring. An algorithm is developed to process digital CTG using MATLAB programming to estimate FHR and to determine the parameters of the FHR pattern. This paper describes the determination of FHR baseline values which are the bases for estimating other FHR parameters. The results are compared with the estimations of two experts and a result from previous work..