A METHOD TO DEFINE AND ANALYZE THE FETAL ELECTROCARDIOGRAM

THIS RESEARCH PROJECT WILL DESIGN AND DEVELOP A NOVEL MEANS TO DETECT, PROCESS AND ANLYZE THE MORPHOLOGY OF THE FETAL ECG WAVEFORM. DURING PHASE I, A NOVEL COMPREHENSIVE SIGNAL PROCESSING SCHEME WILL BE DEVELOPED TO DETERMINE THE ABSOLUTE FETAL ECG R-WAVE MAGNITUDE, WHICH HAS BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH FETAL DISMATURITY, AND FETAL ST-SEGMENT ELEVATION/DEPRESSION AND P-WAVE AND T-WAVE RELATIVE AMPLITUDES, WHICH HAVE BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH FETAL ACIDOSIS. THE COMPREHENSIVE SIGNAL PROCESSING SCHEME, IF SUCCESSFUL, WOULD PROVIDE AN ACCURATE AND PRECISE DETERMINATION OF THE FETAL ECG WAVEFORM. A PILOT CLINICAL STUDY WILL CONCLUDE THIS PHASE I STUDY IN WHICH THESE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES AND METHODS WILL BE APPLIED CLINICALLY TO FETAL ECG DATA.