Patent ID: 8043233

Claim:
A method for monitoring orientation of a maternal pelvis, comprising: obtaining a location in three-dimensional space of a fixed, known point on a maternal pelvis of a woman relative to a reference, said woman lying on a bed; and monitoring a change in orientation of the maternal pelvis after movement of the maternal pelvis by tracking just two points, comprising the following steps: a) after said maternal movement, obtaining a location in three-dimensional space of another point on the maternal pelvis of the woman relative to a reference; b) assuming two assumptions: (1) the maternal pelvis is lying straight on the bed, with both hips of the woman equidistant from a head of the woman and also equidistant from the bed; and (2) there is an almost constant angle between a plane common to the woman's iliac spines, pubis and pelvic inlet plane; c) calculating a new location and position of the pelvis and the pelvic inlet plane as a function of a spatial relationship of just two points, namely said one other point on said pelvis with respect to said fixed, known point and with respect to said angle; and d) calculating fetal head station based on a distance between a bi-parietal diameter (BPD) plane or a known point of a fetal head and said new location and position of the pelvic inlet plane.