Fetal monitoring device and methods

Abstract

Described herein are fetal and/or maternal monitoring devices, systems and methods using UWB medical radar. These devices and systems may include a UWB sensor providing high-resolution and reliable simultaneous monitoring of multiple indicators of fetal and/or maternal health, such as fetal heart rate, fetal heart rate variability, fetal respiration, fetal gross body movement, maternal contractions, maternal heart rate, maternal respiration, and other derivative parameters during virtually all stages of pregnancy and during delivery. The sensor allows novel collection of physiological data using a single sensor or multiple sensors to develop individual and aggregate normal motion indices for use in determining when departure from normal motion index is indicative of fetal or maternal distress.

1 . An ultra-wideband (UWB) fetal monitoring system capable of concurrent monitoring of indicators of fetal and maternal health, the system comprising:
 a sensor configured for receiving and transmission of UWB signal data, the sensor comprising at least one antenna; and   a signal processor configured to receive signal data from the sensor and to process the information into a matrix of reflected signals indexed by depth and time, and to extract from the matrix a plurality of indicators of fetal or fetal and maternal health.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the sensor comprises a receiving antenna and a transmission antenna. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the sensor comprises a combined antenna configured for receiving and for transmission. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of sensors each configured for receiving and transmission of UWB data and comprising at least one antenna. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4  configured for monostatic operation, wherein the transmission of the UWB signal from each sensor is received by the same sensor. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 4  configured for multistatic operation, wherein the transmission of a UWB signal from one sensor is received by a different sensor. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the signal processor is configured to determine one or more indicators of fetal health selected from the group consisting of: fetal heart rate, fetal heart rate variability, fetal respiration, fetal body movement. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the signal processor is configured to determine one or more indicators of maternal health selected from the group consisting of: maternal heart rate, maternal contraction rate, maternal blood pressure, maternal respiration. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a transmitter connected to the antenna, the transmitter configured to generate a series of low voltage, short-duration broadband pulses for transmission as an emitted signal from the antenna as an ultra-wide band spectrum signal. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a receiver connected to the antenna, the receiver configured to receive reflections of emitted signals received by the antenna and process them into data to be passed on to the signal processor. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the receiver is configured to amplify signals based on their depth so that signals reflected further from the sensor are amplified more than signals reflected closer to the sensor. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the signal processor is configured to determine fetal heart rate and maternal contraction rate. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a local memory for storing the matrix information. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a communication module for communicating to a monitoring system. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the monitoring system comprises a computer system configured to store and transmit data. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the monitoring system comprises a networked server. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the sensor is configured as a single-use, disposable sensor configured to couple and uncouple from the signal processor. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a non-UWB sensor. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the non-UWB sensor comprises an accelerometer. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising an output configured to present the one or more extracted indicators of fetal or fetal and maternal health. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein the output is configured to present at least one of the extracted indictors as a chart recording. 
     
     
         22 . An ultra-wideband (UWB) fetal monitoring system capable of concurrent monitoring of indicators of fetal and maternal health, the system comprising:
 a sensor configured for receiving and transmission of UWB data, the sensor comprising at least one antenna;   a transmitter connected to the antenna, the transmitter configured to generate a series of low voltage, short-duration broadband pulses for transmission as an emitted signal from the antenna as an ultra-wide band spectrum signal; and   a signal processor configured to receive data from the sensor and to process the information into a matrix of reflected signals indexed by depth and time, and to extract fetal heart rate and maternal contraction rate from the matrix.   
     
     
         23 . An ultra-wideband (UWB) fetal monitoring system configured for adaptive energy monitoring of indicators of fetal health, the system comprising:
 a sensor configured for receiving and transmission of UWB signal data, the sensor comprising at least one antenna; and   a signal processor configured to receive signal data from the sensor and to process the information into a matrix of reflected signals indexed by depth and time, and to determine the energy level of signals reflected by the fetus; and   a transmitted energy level adapter configured to adjust the energy level of the UWB signal transmitted by the sensor based on the energy level of the signals reflected by the fetus.   
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 23 , wherein the transmitted energy level adapter comprises a comparator configured to compare the energy level of signals reflected by the fetus to a predetermined target energy level, further wherein the transmitted energy level adapter is configured to adjust the energy level of the UWB signal to keep the energy level of signals reflected by the fetus within the predetermined target energy level. 
     
     
         25 . An ultra-wideband (UWB) fetal monitoring system for monitoring indicators of fetal and maternal health, the system comprising:
 a sensor configured for receiving and transmission of UWB data, the sensor comprising at least one antenna, a power source and a transmitter configured to generate a series of low voltage, short-duration broadband pulses for transmission as an emitted signal from the antenna as an ultra-wide band spectrum signal; and   a communications device configured to receive information from the sensor and to pass the information on to a signal processor, wherein   the signal processor is configured to process the information into a matrix of reflected signals indexed by depth and time, to extract from the matrix a plurality of indicators of fetal or fetal and maternal health.   
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 25  wherein the signal processor is configured to determine fetal heart rate and maternal contraction rate from the matrix. 
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 25 , further comprising an output configured to display one or more of the plurality of indicators of fetal or maternal health. 
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 25 , further comprising a charging cradle configured to charge the power source. 
     
     
         29 . A method of simultaneously monitoring two or more indicators of fetal and maternal health using an ultra-wideband (UWB) system, the method comprising:
 transmitting a series of low voltage, short-duration broadband pulses as emitted signals in an ultra-wide band spectrum toward a fetus;   receiving reflected signals from the series of low voltage, short-duration broadband pulses;   processing the reflected signals into a matrix indexed by depth and time; and   extracting a first indicator of fetal health and a second indicator of fetal health or a first indicator of maternal health from the matrix.   
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , further comprising displaying the first indicator of fetal health and the second indicator of fetal health or first indicator of maternal health. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 29 , further comprising positioning a sensor on or near a pregnant patient, wherein the sensor comprises an antenna configured for receiving and transmission of UWB data, the sensor comprising at least one antenna. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the step of processing the reflected signals comprises dividing reflected signals corresponding a single broadband pulse into a plurality of bins reflecting the depth of penetration of the broadband pulse. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the step of extracting comprises determining maternal contraction rate from the matrix and determining fetal heart rate from the matrix. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the step of extracting comprises determining maternal contraction rate at a first depth from the matrix and determining maternal contraction rate at a second depth from the matrix, and determining the first indicator of fetal health by analyzing the region between the first and second depths from the matrix. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 29 , further comprising amplifying the reflected signals based on their depth, so that reflected signals deeper away from the transmission antenna are amplified more than reflected signals closer to the transmission antenna. 
     
     
         36 . A method of simultaneously monitoring fetal and maternal health using an ultra-wideband (UWB) system during labor and delivery, the method comprising:
 positioning a sensor on a pregnant woman for intrapartum monitoring, the sensor configured for receiving and transmission of UWB data, the sensor comprising at least one antenna;   transmitting a series of low voltage, short-duration broadband pulses as emitted signals in an ultra-wide band spectrum;   receiving reflected signals from the series of low voltage, short-duration broadband pulses;   processing the reflected signals into a matrix indexed by depth and time; and   extracting fetal heart rate and maternal contraction rate from the matrix.   
     
     
         37 . A system for processing ultra-wideband (UWB) fetal monitoring data, the system comprising:
 a sensor configured for receiving and transmission of UWB data, the sensor comprising at least one antenna, a power source and a transmitter configured to generate a series of low voltage, short-duration broadband pulses for transmission as an emitted signal from the antenna as an ultra-wide band spectrum signal; and   a signal processor configured to process UWB reflection data received by sensor to form a matrix of reflected signals indexed by depth and time from which a plurality of indicators of fetal or fetal and maternal health may be extracted; and   a server configured to receive information from the signal processor and to pass extracted indicators of fetal or fetal and maternal health on to one or more remote reporting stations.   
     
     
         38 . The system of  claim 37 , wherein the signal processor is configured to extract a plurality of indicators of fetal or fetal and maternal health from the matrix. 
     
     
         39 . The system of  claim 37 , wherein the server is configured to extract a plurality of indicators of fetal or fetal and maternal health from the matrix. 
     
     
         40 . The system of  claim 37 , wherein the server is configured to pass the extracted indicators on to one or more mobile devices.