Patent ID: 6551251
Filing Date: 2003-04-22
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
A fetal heart monitoring system, comprising:a passive fetal heart monitoring sensor having a plurality of sensor elements for acquiring acoustic signals emitted from a fetus inside a body and outputting a plurality of sensor signals; a selection circuit for selecting a particular one of the sensor signals; a signal processing device having a first signal processing channel for processing acoustic signals in a first frequency band and a second signal processing channel for processing acoustic signals in a second frequency band, the signal processing device having a first state such that the signal processing device outputs sensor signals processed by the first signal processing channel and a second state such that the signal processing device outputs sensor signals processed by the second signal processing channel; a monitoring device responsive to the signal processing device for monitoring the characteristics of the processed signals outputted by the signal processing device and determining if such characteristics meet or exceed predetermined criteria; and a control device for configuring the signal processing device to the first state so as to process selected sensor signals with the first signal processing channel if such processed signals meet or exceed the predetermined criterion and for configuring the signal processing device to the second state so as to process selected sensor signals with the second signal processing channel if the sensor signals processed by the first signal processing channel do not meet the predetermined criteria.