Robust Baseline Measurement for Reliable Fetal Heart Rate Evaluation

摘要

Cardiotocography is a measurement technique widely adopted to assess fetal well-being during both antepartum and intra-partum stages. It consists of two simultaneously acquired time-series: fetal heart rate and uterine activity. Since visual inspection analysis is gravely affected by intraand interobserver variability, recent literature is focusing on automated solutions. In this context, it is essential to provide a robust and accurate estimation of fetal heart rate to prevent from incorrect diagnosis. One of the major challenges is represented by the estimation of FHR baseline. The present paper proposes a novel algorithm capable of accurately estimating the baseline and correctly detecting possible pathological events, like heart rate accelerations or decelerations. In order to provide a thorough metrological characterization of the algorithm performances, we evaluate its accuracy by considering an experimental dataset.