title: Chaos theory and power spectrum analysis in computerized cardiotocography.
abstract: Power spectrum and chaos theory analysis, methods recently applied to fetal surveillance, may offer an effective tool for recognising fetal hypoxia and consequential collapse of fetal homeostasis earlier than at present. However, strict continuity and high precision of input data is an indispensable prerequisite. If one overlooks this requirement the results may be misleading. The aim of the present work was to find a method that provides strictly continuous and highly precise beat-to-beat FHR data values. It was found that only the determination of heart beat intervals between successive R peaks, using the digital FECG recording technique developed here, meets the necessary requirements for power spectrum and chaos theory analysis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Albert Szent-Györgyi Medical University, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Bozóki
mesh_terms: D015148:Cardiotocography / Q000379:methods*; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006340:Heart Rate, Fetal / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D011247:Pregnancy; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D014159:Transducers; D014465:Ultrasonics