Patent ID: 7818050

Claim:
A fetal heart monitoring device, comprising: a housing defining a cavity having an opening; polymer film that spans the opening and has an upper surface exposed within the cavity, the polymer film having an adhesive layer configured to adhere the housing to a maternal epidermis and to transmit vibrations of the maternal epidermis; a piezoelectric transducer disposed within the cavity and coupled to the upper surface so that vibrations from the maternal epidermis are communicated to the piezoelectric transducer, the piezoelectric transducer including a piezoelectric polymer sheet and electrodes disposed over major opposing surfaces of the piezoelectric polymer sheet; and an electrical circuit disposed within the housing and operatively coupled to the electrodes to generate a first transducer signal, the electrical circuit configured to be coupled to a processor that processes the first transducer signal to generate a signal representative of a fetal heartbeat.