FETAL HEARTBEAT RATE INSTRUMENT FOR MONITORING FETAL DISTRESS

• US 3,561,430 A
• Filed: 07/20/1967
• Issued: 02/09/1971
• Est. Priority Date: 07/20/1967
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Jorge O. Pantle, William W. Filler Jr
• Original Assignee: Jorge O. Pantle, William W. Filler Jr
• Inventors: Pantle, Jorge O., Filler, William W. Jr.
• Application Number:
  US04/654,852
• Time in Patent Office: 1,300 Days
• US Class Current: 600/453
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02411 of foetuses
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4362 Assessing foetal parameters
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/02 Measuring pulse or heart rate
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/0866 involving foetal diagnosis; pre-natal or peri-natal diagnosis of the baby

Abstract

Particularly during childbirth it is important to monitor fetal heartbeats to determine distress, and this is accomplished by use of automatic electronic instruments which respond to directional transducers rested upon the outer maternal abdominal wall. An automatic tracking system is provided operating the receiving transducers to follow movements of the fetus, thereby optimizing signal response without manual intervention or attention. The detected fetal heartbeats are processed to provide a visual indication of the heartbeat rate which is made available for every heartbeat period. Further signals are taken representative of the abdominal contractions during labor to correlate on a recorded display the relationship of the fetal heartbeat rate thereby providing information for diagnosing fetal distress.

Claims

1. Instrumentation for detecting fetal heart signals comprising in combination, electromagnetic generating means adapted for directing periodic energy internally from the surface of a maternal abdomen and adapted to be secured upon the external abdomen surface to direct energy toward a fetal heart at a various positions within the womb, detector means adapted to be secured on the external maternal abdomen surface at a single location and constructed for detecting a component of said energy reflected back from physical changes representing a pulsating fetal heart at various locations within the womb, and means processing said detected component of energy to produce a visual indication of the fetal heartbeat rate comprising means independently detecting changes in dimension of abdominal external surfaces and recording means displaying signals on a coordinated time base comprising at least the fetal heartbeat rate and the abdominal surface changes.

2. Instrumentation as defined in claim 1, wherein said detecting means adapted to be on the abdomen surface comprises a plurality of electromechanical transducers each selectively responsive to reflected signals from a narrow directional sector and positioned to encompass a pattern generally corresponding to the shape of a womb and including means for deriving from the transducers a signal indicating the direction of movement of a detected heartbeat.

3. Instrumentation for detecting fetal heart signals comprising in combination, electromagnetic generating means adapted for directing periodic energy internally from the surface of a maternal abdomen and adapted to be secured upon the external abdomen surface to direct energy toward a fetal heart at a various positions within the womb, detector means adapted to be secured on the external maternal abdomen surface at a single location and constructed for detecting a component of said energy reflected back from physical changes representing a pulsating fetal heart at various locations within the womb, means proceSsing said detected component of energy to produce a visual indication of the fetal heartbeat rate, means of deriving an error signal from at least two different ones of said transducers, and means responsive to said error signal for changing the direction of the transducers to follow changes in location of a signal from a heartbeat detected by said transducers.

4. Instrumentation for detecting fetal heart signals comprising in combination, electromagnetic generating means adapted for directing periodic energy internally from the surface of a maternal abdomen and adapted to be secured upon the external abdomen surface to direct energy toward a fetal heart at various positions within the womb, detector means adapted to be secured on the external maternal abdomen surface at a single location and constructed for detecting a component of said energy reflected back from physical changes representing a pulsating fetal heart at various locations within the womb, means processing said detected component of energy to produce a visual indication of the fetal heartbeat rate wherein the energy signals produce a physical wave front and said detecting means comprises two pairs of directional electromechanical transducers resonant at the periodic frequency of said energy and oriented respectively on different axes of rotation, and means rotating each set of transducers automatically as a function of differential signal component amplitudes received from respective ones of the transducers in each pair to direct the transducers in an orientation maximizing the received signal component.

5. Electronic instrumentation for detecting fetal heartbeats, comprising in combination, a sending transducer adapted to pass period energy waves internally from a fixed position outside a maternal abdomen to detect fetal heartbeats, an electronic generator producing signals energizing said transducer, a set of directional receiving transducers adapted to be oriented to pick up a component of said energy reflected back from the fetal heartbeat, a tracking system operable with said receiving transducers adapted to follow movements of the heartbeat location and produce an optimized signal at the receiving transducers, and means reproducing in visible form a signal representative of the fetal heartbeat rate.

6. Electronic instrumentation for detecting fetal heartbeats comprising in combination, a sending transducer adapted to direct periodic energy waves internally from the outer surface of a maternal abdomen to the vicinity of a fetus at a fetal heart location anywhere within the womb, at least one directional receiving transducer adapted to be placed at a fixed location upon the outer surface of the maternal abdomen with characteristics causing it to pick up a component of said energy reflected back from the fetus at any location within the womb, including detector means adapted to be located in a fixed location and adapted to detect physical changes of surface dimensions of a maternal abdomen representative of contractions during labor, and means displaying the latter detected changes visually on a correlated time scale with the corresponding indication of fetal heartbeat rate.