Low-complexity intrauterine pressure estimation using the Teager energy operator on electrohysterographic recordings

Abstract

Monitoring the progression of maternal uterine activity provides important prognostic information during pregnancy and parturition. Currently used methods for intrauterine pressure (IUP) measurement are unsuitable for long-term observation of uterine activity. The abdominally measured electrohysterogram (EHG) provides a non-invasive alternative to the existing methods for long-term ambulatory uterine contraction monitoring. A new low-complexity method for IUP estimation based on the Teager energy (TE) operator is proposed. The TE operator was used as it mimics the physiologic phenomena underlying the generation of the EHG signals. Several EHG signal analysis methods for IUP estimation from the literature are compared with the new TE method. The comparison is based on correlation and root mean square error of the IUP estimate with the gold standard internally measured IUP as well as their respective computational complexity. The proposed method results in a superior IUP estimation accuracy and complexity compared to state-of-the-art methods from the literature, with a complexity as much as 55 times lower. Therefore, the proposed method offers a valuable new option for long-term ambulatory uterine monitoring.

Toward a new modality for detecting a uterine rupture: electrohysterogram propagation analysis during trial of labor after cesarean

“…Contractions were manually selected based on either the external tocodynamometer, when available, or the estimated intrauterine pressure (eIUP). The method for deriving the eIUP was a root mean square based method similar to the one described by Jezewski et al [17,18], only using the frequency band 0.35-0.80 Hz. A minimum of three and a maximum of four contractions were selected for each patient.…”

Propagation of electrical activity in uterine muscle during pregnancy: a review

“…, Rooijakkers et al . ). Noteworthy, although the term EHG is commonly used to distinguish measurement of uterine electrical signal from the electromyogram (EMG), its counterpart signal recorded in skeletal muscles, some authors still refer to it as uterine EMG, especially for invasive measurements (Devedeux et al .…”

“…In an effort to improve the clinical management of uterine contractions during pregnancy and labour, significant attention has been dedicated to the electrical activity of the uterus as the primary cause of contractions and to the analysis of the associated signal, referred to as electrohysterogram (EHG) (Figueroa et al 1987, Maul et al 2003, Rabotti et al 2008b, Jacod et al 2010, Rooijakkers et al 2014a). Noteworthy, although the term EHG is commonly used to distinguish measurement of uterine electrical signal from the electromyogram (EMG), its counterpart signal recorded in skeletal muscles, some authors still refer to it as uterine EMG, especially for invasive measurements (Devedeux et al 1993, Lucovnik et al 2011b.…”

Motion-Artifact Reduction in Capacitive Heart-Rate Measurements by Adaptive Filtering

“…However, such highpass filter also cancels some useful information in the desired ECG signal. Furthermore, although the proposed method is evaluated by ECG measurements in the present study, it can also be applied to other biopotential measurements in which the signal of interest may be in the frequency band between 0 and 10 Hz; a relevant example is provided by electrohysterography [30], [31]. In this case, a 10-Hz high-pass filter is not suited.…”