Study of the local influence of the placenta on the characteristics of monkey uterine electrical activity

The uterine electromyogram is a signal that can be used to follow, during pregnancy, the uterine contractility. Moreover, we can use this signal to predict a potential risk of preterm delivery in women. On the other hand, we know that the placenta is a source of hormonal secretion which can modulate the uterine contractility. Thus, our hypothesis is that the placenta could exert a local influence on the characteristics of uterine electromyogram and may bias the prediction of preterm delivery. In this study, we tried to explore the placental influences by recording internally contractions, in the monkey. Contractions were analysed by the way of their absolute energy spectrum calculated from their time-frequency representation. Our results showed significant differences between contractions, in regards of the placenta, whatever the parturition period. Moreover, we found that these differences evolved during parturition. However, more studies are needed to really understand the physiological phenomena which could explain these differences and explore their influence on the prediction of the preterm delivery risk.