# US 2013/0158366 A1 · Handheld device for fetal health monitoring and method thereof

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- Number: US 2013/0158366 A1
- Document ID: US20130158366A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 13/721,543
- Filed: 2012-12-20
- Published: 2013-06-20
- Earliest claimed: 2011-12-20
- Assignees: General Electric Company
- Inventors: Kiran Bogineni; Fatma Nazan Demirbilek; Nasir Ahmed Desai; Antony Kalugumalai Neethimanickam
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20130158366A1

## CPC

- A61B 5/4362: {Assessing foetal parameters}
- A61B 5/0002: {Remote monitoring of patients using telemetry, e.g. transmission of vital signals via a communication network (endoradiosondes A61B5/07)}
- A61B 5/0004: {characterised by the type of physiological signal transmitted}
- A61B 5/11: Measuring movement of the entire body or parts thereof, e.g. head or hand tremor or mobility of a limb {(A61B5/1038 takes precedence; motion detection to correct for motion artifacts in physiological signals A61B5/721)}
- A61B 5/7246: {using correlation, e.g. template matching or determination of similarity}
- A61B 5/74: {Details of notification to user or communication with user or patient; User input means}
- A61B 5/742: {using visual displays (displays for heart-related electrical signals, e.g. ECG, A61B5/339)}
- A61B 5/7475: {User input or interface means, e.g. keyboard, pointing device, joystick}
- A61B 5/749: {Voice-controlled interfaces}
- A61B 8/02: Measuring pulse or heart rate
- A61B 8/0866: {involving foetal diagnosis; pre-natal or peri-natal diagnosis of the baby}
- A61B 5/0022: {Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet}
- A61B 5/01: Measuring temperature of body parts {; Diagnostic temperature sensing, e.g. for malignant or inflamed tissue} (clinical contact thermometers G01K13/20)
- A61B 5/1118: {Determining activity level}
- A61B 5/746: {Alarms related to a physiological condition, e.g. details of setting alarm thresholds or avoiding false alarms}
- A61B 2560/0295: adapted for recording user messages or annotations
- A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D)

## Abstract

A handheld device for fetal health monitoring is provided. The device comprises at least one sensor configured to detect fetal movement, and an ultrasound transducer unit configured to record a heartbeat sound of the fetus. The device further comprises a storage unit connectable to the at least one sensor and the ultrasound transducer unit and configured to store the detected fetal movement along with a timestamp and the heartbeat sound of the fetus in the form of digital information.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A handheld device for fetal health monitoring, the device comprising:
at least one sensor configured to detect fetal movement;
an ultrasound transducer unit configured to record a heartbeat sound of the fetus; and
a storage unit connectable to the at least one sensor and to the ultrasound transducer unit, and configured to store the detected fetal movement along with a timestamp and the heartbeat sound of the fetus in the form of digital information.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The handheld device of claim 1, wherein the ultrasound transducer unit is configured to interface with a timer set by a user to control the ultrasound transducer.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The handheld device of claim 1, wherein the ultrasound transducer unit further comprises an audio member operable as a speaker to generate the heartbeat sound.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The handheld device of claim 1, further comprising a temperature sensor configured to measure the temperature of a pregnant woman.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The handheld device of claim 1, further comprising an alert system actuatable by a user, the alert system being configured to send an emergency message to at least one of a hospital management system and a mobile device of a care giver.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The handheld device of claim 1, further comprising at least one of an audio recorder and a user interface having at least one of soft buttons and hard keys for recording health conditions of a user, wherein the audio recorder and user interface are interfaced with the storage unit.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The handheld device of claim 1, further comprising a display interface for displaying information related to at least one of pregnancy, diet tips, a doctor's contact information, due date and count down, and customized tips from a doctor stored in a knowledge database for educating the user.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The handheld device of claim 1, further comprising a communication media interface configured to transmit data stored in the storage unit to an Electronic Fetal Monitor associated with a service provider.

### Claim 9

A method of monitoring fetal health, the method comprising:
detecting fetal movement using at least one sensor;
recording a heartbeat sound of the fetus using an ultrasound transducer unit; and
storing the detected fetal movement along with a timestamp and the heartbeat sound of the fetus in the form of digital information in a storage unit.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The method of claim 9, further comprising comparing the stored fetal movements with a preset value of fetal movements; and
notifying a user about fetal health based on the comparison.

### Claim 11 (depends on 9)

The method of claim 9, further comprising transmitting, using a communication media interface, data stored in the storage unit to an Electronic Fetal Monitor associated with a service provider.

### Claim 12 (depends on 9)

The method of claim 9, further comprising measuring the temperature of a pregnant woman using a temperature sensor.

### Claim 13 (depends on 9)

The method of claim 9, further comprising displaying, using a display interface, information related to at least one of pregnancy, diet tips, a doctor's contact information, due date and count down, and customized tips from a doctor stored in a knowledge database.

### Claim 14 (depends on 9)

The method of claim 9, further comprising sending an emergency message to at least one of a hospital management system and a mobile device of a care giver upon actuation of an alert system by a user.

### Claim 15 (depends on 9)

The method of claim 9, further comprising:
recording the health conditions of a user using at least one of an audio recorder and a user interface having at least one of soft buttons and hard keys; and
storing the recorded health conditions in the storage unit.