Patent ID: 6423016
Filing Date: 2002-07-23
Classification: A61B,G16H

Abstract:
An apparatus for tracking the labor progress of a patient during childbirth, said apparatus comprising:a) an input for receiving a group of clinical measurements associated to a patient, said group of clinical measurements including data elements indicative of a measurement of a previous dilatation of the cervix of the patient, a contraction count, a previous level of descent of the child, a previous effacement measurement of the cervix, an epidural status and a parity status, said parity status being indicative of either one of a first childbirth for the patient and a childbirth subsequent to a first childbirth; b) a processing unit coupled to said input, said processing unit being operative for generating a reference measure indicative of a certain expected dilatation of the cervix allowing to assess the progress of childbirth by using the following formula: x=AA+BB*(1âˆ’y)+CC*z+DD*w+EE*v+FF*u where:x is the certain expected dilatation of the cervix; y is the epidural status; z is the previous dilatation of the cervix measurement; w is the previous effacement measurement of the cervix; v is the previous level of descent of the child; u is the contraction count; and where AA, BB, CC, DD, EE and FF are a set of real numbers conditioned at least in part on the basis of said parity status; c) an output for releasing a signal indicative of a measurement of the certain expected dilatation of the cervix.