A MICROSOFT(R) WINDOWS(TM) BASED APPLICATION FOR ACQUISITION AND REPLAY OF CARDIOTOCOGRAPH DATA

The electronic fetal monitor or cardiotocograph is an integral part of all modern labour wards. It records fetal heart and uterine contracti ons and charts this data as a cardiotocogram (CTG). The CTG is used to assess fetal well-being by the labour attendants and in some circumst ances for research. A means to acquire and display the CTG by microcom puter as an aid to archiving and to obstetric research is presented. A Microsoft Windows-based application was written using Microsoft C ver sion 7.0 to acquire and replay the CTG data. The application acquires the CTG data by using the RS232 serial link filled on most modern feta l monitors. Additionally, comments and events can be entered by the us er throughout recording. The data are saved to disk files which can be replayed on screen in the manner of a CTG. The data replay functions of the application calculates the uterine activity integral and active pressure for each contraction and for 15 min intervals. This calculat ed data is not available from many fetal monitors but is widely used f or research into the mechanics of labour. This application provides an easy, reliable and accurate means of acquiring the CTG data, for arch iving and research. It also provides a framework for further CTG analy sis.