tDespite the widespread use of cardiotocography in foetal monitoring, the evaluation of foetalstatus suffers from a considerable inter and intra-observer variability. In order to overcomethe main limitations of visual cardiotocographic assessment, computerised methods toanalyse cardiotocographic recordings have been recently developed. In this study, a newsoftware for automated analysis of foetal heart rate is presented. It allows an automaticprocedure for measuring the most relevant parameters derivable from cardiotocographictraces. Simulated and real cardiotocographic traces were analysed to test software reliabil-ity. In artificial traces, we simulated a set number of events (accelerations, decelerations andcontractions) to be recognised. In the case of real signals, instead, results of the computeri-sed analysis were compared with the visual assessment performed by 18 expert cliniciansand three performance indexes were computed to gain information about performances ofthe proposed software. The software showed preliminary performance we judged satisfac-tory in that the results matched completely the requirements, as proved by tests on artificialsignals in which all simulated events were detected from the software. Performance indexescomputed in comparison with obstetricians’ evaluations are, on the contrary, not so satisfac-tory; in fact they led to obtain the following values of the statistical parameters: sensitivityequal to 93%, positive predictive value equal to 82% and accuracy equal to 77%. Very probablythis arises from the high variability of trace annotation carried out by clinicians.

Software for computerised analysis of cardiotocographic traces

Romano M;
2016-01-01

Abstract

tDespite the widespread use of cardiotocography in foetal monitoring, the evaluation of foetalstatus suffers from a considerable inter and intra-observer variability. In order to overcomethe main limitations of visual cardiotocographic assessment, computerised methods toanalyse cardiotocographic recordings have been recently developed. In this study, a newsoftware for automated analysis of foetal heart rate is presented. It allows an automaticprocedure for measuring the most relevant parameters derivable from cardiotocographictraces. Simulated and real cardiotocographic traces were analysed to test software reliabil-ity. In artificial traces, we simulated a set number of events (accelerations, decelerations andcontractions) to be recognised. In the case of real signals, instead, results of the computeri-sed analysis were compared with the visual assessment performed by 18 expert cliniciansand three performance indexes were computed to gain information about performances ofthe proposed software. The software showed preliminary performance we judged satisfac-tory in that the results matched completely the requirements, as proved by tests on artificialsignals in which all simulated events were detected from the software. Performance indexescomputed in comparison with obstetricians’ evaluations are, on the contrary, not so satisfac-tory; in fact they led to obtain the following values of the statistical parameters: sensitivityequal to 93%, positive predictive value equal to 82% and accuracy equal to 77%. Very probablythis arises from the high variability of trace annotation carried out by clinicians.
2016
Computerised cardiotocography; Foetal heart rate variability; Non linear indices
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12317/12399
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