Developing Instrumentation for Fetal Cardiac Monitoring

描述（由申请人提供）：由于更多的早产儿和足月婴儿在可能的疾病中存活，因此有强烈的需要评估胎儿的生理发育。这项第一阶段的研究将评估开发一种基于高温超导体（HTS）的新型无创胎儿心脏磁图（fMCG）传感器的可行性。fMCG在评估胎儿节律障碍方面的潜力尤其高。研究表明，快速消费品可以检测出超声波无法检测到的胎儿节律紊乱，这是目前唯一被广泛使用的技术。快速消费品也是胎儿心率监测的近乎理想的信号源，提供精确的信号，可以在怀孕的后半段检测到。研究表明fMCG可以提供重要的诊断信息，这是其他方法无法获得的，这有可能提高胎儿监测的准确性。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): There is a strong need to assess the physiological development of the fetus, as more pre- and fullterm babies survive with possible disorders. This Phase I research will evaluate the feasibility of developing a new, non-invasive fetal magnetocardiography (fMCG) sensor, based on high temperature superconductors (HTS). The potential of fMCG is especially high for evaluating fetal rhythm disorders. Studies have shown that fMCG can detect fetal rhythm disturbances that cannot be detected by ultrasound, which is the only technology in wide use. fMCG is also a nearly ideal signal source for fetal heart rate monitoring, providing a precise signal, which can be detected throughout the last half of pregnancy. Studies have shown that fMCG can provide important diagnostic information, unobtainable by other means, which have the potential to improve the accuracy of fetal monitoring. This Phase I will (1) build a proof-of-principle HTS axial gradiometer fMCG system, with a gantry and sensor configuration based on prior MCG data from fetal heart signals, (2) assess the sensitivity of the fMCG system in terms of signal size, magnetic field resolution, and noise characteristics in shielded and unshielded envrionments, and begin to refine noise reduction software, and (3) collect fetal data at several intervals from gestation, from within the magnetically shielded room at the University of Wisconsin's Biomagnetism Research Laboratory. A major obstacle to acceptance of present-day fMCG is its high cost and sophistication. If successful, the proposed project will lead to the development of a practical instrument which can significantly improve clinical assessment of fetal cardiac function and fetal well-being.