Computer method for perinatal screening of cardiac murmur using fetal phonocardiography

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Cardiology
• Prenatal Diagnostics

Background:

• Congenital heart defects (CHDs) are a significant concern in prenatal diagnostics.
• Early detection of fetal cardiac abnormalities is crucial for timely intervention and improved outcomes.
• Non-invasive methods for assessing fetal heart health are continuously being developed.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of fetal phonocardiographic measurements in identifying congenital heart defects.
• To present a novel signal processing technique for fetal murmur detection.
• To explore the potential for automated perinatal screening of cardiac malfunctions.

Main Methods:

• Conducted investigations on 820 pregnant women over four years.
• Recorded fetal cardiac murmurs, analyzing their waveforms and acoustic signal characteristics.
• Developed and applied a sophisticated signal processing method for murmur discovery.
• Compared recorded fetal murmurs with known pediatric cardiac murmur waveforms.

Main Results:

• Successfully recorded typical waveforms and incidences of fetal cardiac murmurs.
• Suggested potential causes of detected murmurs by comparing them to pediatric data.
• Demonstrated the utility of the signal processing method for identifying potential CHDs.
• Validated the method's applicability for automated screening from the 28th week of gestation.

Conclusions:

• Fetal phonocardiographic measurements are capable of indicating certain congenital heart defects.
• The presented signal processing technique offers a promising tool for early and automated fetal cardiac screening.
• This approach can facilitate comprehensive cardiac assessments in low-risk populations during the perinatal period.