Positioning support and fetal heart rate registration support for CTG ultrasound transducers

A method of monitoring fetal health, comprising:

• entering a position support mode of operation for an ultrasound device;
• transmitting ultrasound signals from at least one transducer of the ultrasound device to create a measurement volume;
• receiving by the at least one transducer ultrasound signal echoes corresponding to depth in a maternal abdomen;
• processing by a processor the received ultrasound signal echoes received by the at least one transducer to create at least one Doppler signal;
• generating a multi-dimensional heat map from the at least one Doppler signal;
• determining from the multi-dimensional heat map, when a fetal heart is outside a central alignment of the measurement volume;
• providing feedback on how to reposition the at least one transducer such that the fetal heart lies within the central alignment of the measurement volume when the fetal heart is determined to be outside the central alignment of the measurement volume;
• and
• automatically entering a fetal heart rate monitoring mode upon determining that the fetal heart lies within the central alignment of the measurements volume.

An apparatus for monitoring fetal health, comprising:

• an ultrasound device having a plurality of transducers;
• at least one processor;
• and
• a non-transitory memory storing instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:
• transmit ultrasound signals from the plurality of transducers of the ultrasound device;
• receive by the plurality of transducers ultrasound signal echoes corresponding to depth in a maternal abdomen;
• create Doppler signals based upon the ultrasound signal echoes received by the plurality of transducers;
• generate a multi-dimensional heat map from the Doppler signals;
• determine from the multi-dimensional heat map when a fetal heart lies outside a central alignment of a measurement volume;
• provide directional feedback on how to reposition the ultrasound device such that the fetal heart lies within the central alignment of the measurement volume when the fetal heart is determined to lie outside the central alignment of the measurement volume;
• and
• automatically entering a fetal heart monitoring mode upon determining that the fetal heart lies within the central alignment of the measurements volume.