Acquisition Devices for Fetal Phonocardiography: A Scoping Review

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Obstetrics and Gynecology
• Medical Device Technology

Background:

• Fetal monitoring is vital for preventing adverse pregnancy and delivery outcomes.
• Fetal phonocardiography (FPCG) offers a non-invasive method for continuous and remote fetal health assessment.
• Existing research primarily focuses on signal processing, neglecting hardware aspects of FPCG acquisition.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a scoping review of hardware solutions for fetal phonocardiography (FPCG) acquisition.
• To analyze technical specifications and clinical applications of FPCG devices.
• To identify trends and innovations in FPCG technology for fetal monitoring.

Main Methods:

• A PRISMA-guidelines-based systematic search and analysis of 57 selected studies.
• Inclusion of studies detailing 26 research prototypes and 8 commercial devices for FPCG.
• Focus on technical specifications and reported clinical use of acquisition hardware.

Main Results:

• No commercial FPCG devices are specifically designed for fetal monitoring purposes.
• Recent advancements include the integration of multiple microphones and sensors in FPCG systems.
• Quantitative validation of FPCG acquisition devices is frequently lacking in reported studies.

Conclusions:

• The review highlights a gap in fetal-specific commercial FPCG hardware.
• Future development should focus on advanced multi-sensor systems and rigorous quantitative validation.
• This review serves as a reference for evaluating and developing novel FPCG acquisition systems for improved fetal monitoring.