Fetal movement counting using optical fibre sensors

Abeywardena, CL, Vanheusden, FJ ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2369-6189, Walker, KF, Arm, R ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8762-6003 and Zhang, Q ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5811-8034, 2020. Fetal movement counting using optical fibre sensors. Sensors, 21 (1): 48. ISSN 1424-8220

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Abstract

Daily fetal movement counting based on maternal perception is widely deployed to monitor fetal wellbeing. However, the counting performed by the mother is prone to errors for various reasons. There are limited devices on the market that can provide reliable and automatic counting. This paper presents a prototype of a novel fetal movement monitoring device based on fibre Bragg grating sensors. Deformation of the skin caused by a fetal movement can lead to a change of the strain and stress on the optical fibre sensors, therefore can induce distortions to the breathing pattern of the mother. In the study data was gathered by the sensors through strain measurement and was post-processed using Independent Component Analysis and high-pass filtering to show the instances of the fetal movements. Information gathered during user trials with the prototype suggests that the system detects significantly higher numbers of fetus movements than that observed based on the mother's perception. Among the various techniques available for fetal movement monitoring, fibre optic sensing provides many advantages including; multiplex capability, flexibility and minimal size, making the concept an attractive solution for reliable monitoring of antenatal fetal movements.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Sensors
Creators:	Abeywardena, C.L., Vanheusden, F.J., Walker, K.F., Arm, R. and Zhang, Q.
Publisher:	MDPI
Date:	24 December 2020
Volume:	21
Number:	1
ISSN:	1424-8220
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.3390/s21010048 DOI 1397015 Other
Divisions:	Schools > School of Art and Design Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Jonathan Gallacher
Date Added:	11 Jan 2021 11:46
Last Modified:	11 Mar 2022 10:43
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/41996

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