Babykick: development of a wearable system for detecting fetal movements during pregnancy
Date
2021-01-05
Authors
Vefaghnematollahi, Shayesteh
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Abstract
Decreased fetal movement can indicate uncommon complication of labor; in response,
we have developed a non-invasive, wearable monitoring tool to objectively
assess fetal movement called the Babykick device. The novelty of this device is that
it moves away from a traditional subjective assessment of fetal movement to an objective,
quantitative measurement that remains low-cost. The designed tool refrains
from utilizing expensive and less available monitoring modalities such as ultrasound
imaging, Doppler velocimetry or cardiotocography. Instead, the wearable consists of
a piezo-sensitive belt that is wirelessly connected to a phone or tablet. It can be used
to record the frequency and amplitude of fetal movements perceived passively and
non-invasively on the surface of the abdomen of the pregnant woman for a period of
up to one hour while she is supine or seated in a reclined position. The ndings from
the Babykick device will be correlated with those from subjective maternal assessment
and the observation of the Research Coordinator during the test. This low-cost,
non-invasive wearable belt could potentially reduce negative outcomes such as stillbirth,
perinatal mortality and neonatal morbidity in low- to middle-income settings
and is anticipated to be useful for long-term home monitoring.
Description
Keywords
fetal movement, low-cost, wearable