A practical guide to non-invasive foetal electrocardiogram extraction and analysis

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Signal Processing
• Maternal-Fetal Medicine

Background:

• Non-invasive foetal electrocardiography (NI-FECG) is an emerging alternative to Doppler ultrasound for fetal monitoring.
• NI-FECG signal analysis is challenging due to low signal-to-noise ratio and overlap with maternal ECG.
• Existing research in NI-FECG signal processing is extensive but fragmented.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide researchers with a practical guide to Non-Invasive foetal electrocardiography (NI-FECG) signal processing.
• To review recent advances in NI-FECG extraction techniques, simulators, and performance evaluation.
• To motivate future research directions, emphasizing database standardization and morphological analysis.

Main Methods:

• Review of recent literature on NI-FECG signal processing.
• Identification and summary of publicly available NI-FECG databases and open-source code.
• Analysis of techniques for foetal heart rate evaluation and morphological analysis.
• Discussion of methodologies and statistics for algorithm performance assessment.

Main Results:

• Recent advances in NI-FECG extraction techniques and simulators have been identified.
• Publicly available databases and open-source code resources are cataloged.
• The need for a standardized open reference database and consistent evaluation statistics is highlighted.

Conclusions:

• Standardized databases and evaluation metrics are crucial for advancing NI-FECG research.
• Morphological analysis of NI-FECG signals presents a promising area for future investigation.
• Further research in NI-FECG is essential for improving foetal monitoring capabilities.