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Antepartum non-invasive evaluation of opening and closing timings of the cardiac valves in fetal cardiac cycle

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Abstract

In this study, we propose a non-invasive algorithm to recognize the timings of fetal cardiac events on the basis of analysis of fetal ECG (FECG) and Doppler ultrasound signals. Multiresolution wavelet analysis enabled the frequency contents of the Doppler signals to be linked to the opening (o) and closing (c) of the heart’s valves (Aortic (A) and Mitral (M)). M-mode, B-mode and pulsed Doppler ultrasound were used to verify the timings of opening and closure of these valves. In normal fetuses, the time intervals from Q-wave of QRS complex of FECG to opening and closing of aortic valve, i.e., Q-Ao and Q-Ac were found to be 79.3 ± 17.4 and 224.7 ± 13.3 ms, respectively. For the mitral valve, Q-Mc and Q-Mo were found to be 27.7 ± 9.4 and 294.6 ± 21.3 ms, respectively. Correlations among the timings in opening and closing of cardiac valves were found to be higher in abnormal fetuses than that in normal ones.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by an Early career researcher (ECR) grant awarded to AH Khandoker by University of Melbourne with partial support received from Australian Research Council (ARC) research networks on Intelligent sensing, sensor networks and information processing (ISSNIP). The authors would like to thank Dr Slaven Marusic and Dr Mak Daulatzai of University of Melbourne for revising and editing the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia

    Ahsan H. Khandoker & Marimuthu Palaniswami

  2. Institute of International Advanced Interdisciplinary Research, Tohoku University School of Medicine, Seiryo-cho, Sendai, 980-8575, Japan

    Yoshitaka Kimura & Takuya Ito

  3. Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Tohoku University Hospital, Seiryo-cho, Sendai, 980-8575, Japan

    Naoaki Sato

  4. Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University School of Medicine, Seiryo-cho, Sendai, 980-8575, Japan

    Kunihiro Okamura

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  1. Ahsan H. Khandoker
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  2. Yoshitaka Kimura
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  3. Takuya Ito
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  4. Naoaki Sato
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  5. Kunihiro Okamura
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  6. Marimuthu Palaniswami
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Correspondence to Ahsan H. Khandoker.

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Khandoker, A.H., Kimura, Y., Ito, T. et al. Antepartum non-invasive evaluation of opening and closing timings of the cardiac valves in fetal cardiac cycle. Med Biol Eng Comput 47, 1075–1082 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-009-0528-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-009-0528-y

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