Fetal kicking monitoring device for intrauterine death prevention

• Main Authors: Al-Ashwal, R. H., Mohd. Nooh, Syed, Aourdjini, Ali, Ibrahim, Zameera, Abdulrahman, Hisyam, Aziz, Nadwa, Ravichandran Jeganathan, J.
• Format: Article
• Published: Indian Society for Education and Environment 2016
• Subjects: QH Natural history
• Online Access: http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/72718/; https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84998996786&doi=10.17485%2fijst%2f2016%2fv9i13%2f81208&partnerID=40&md5=5bad6206bf4937ece7b619ac0a9e06a6
• Institution: Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

The fetal health is possible to fluctuate and deteriorate and lead to unexpected loss of the pregnancy. Time is crucial for heart life and any decrease in oxygen to the heart muscle is crucial and means death. Therefore, it is substantial to do an obstetric tracing, in order to spot the sudden changes in the fetus health. Problem Statement: Away from all the methods that could measure heart health, fetus movements monitoring is one way to identify the fetal wellbeing. One very popular movement that is used to gauge fetal health is a fetal kick, in which a frequency of perceived and/or registered fetal kicks by a healthy fetus is higher as compared to the frequency of perceived and/or registered fetal kicks a by an unhealthy fetus. However, the conventional methods such as ultrasound and manual measurement endure some errors. Objective: The aim of this study is to develop a portable belt that can be used to measure the fetal movement accurately by setting the appropriate threshold. Methods: A total of 9 Force Sensitive Resistors (FSR) were used to detect a simulated force exerted by fetus on the abdomen of pregnant women in order to count the fetal movements. Finding: Based on the overall result the sensor detects 90% of the kicks given. Conclusion: We believe that this device could help the pregnant women to measure the fetal movement with less attention and can reduce the error.