title: Studies on fetal forelimb movements by using a wrist actigraph in sheep.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether an actigraph can be a tool for measuring fetal movements in sheep. Actiwatches were placed on a fetal forelimb and the maternal uterine wall in near-term pregnant sheep. No significant correlation was found between fetal and maternal activity counts for periods of 1 min. The patterns of fetal activity counts were characterized by ultradian rhythms, with bursts of activity every 20-30 min; however, there was no evidence of diurnal changes in fetal activity counts. The results suggest that fetal movements can be measured by using an actigraph in chronically prepared fetal sheep.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The University of Tokyo, Japan. sqzhang-tky@umin.ac.jp
authors.forename: Shi-Qing
authors.initials: SQ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Shiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kozuma
authors.forename: Mio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Donghui
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ling
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kitano
authors.forename: Tomoyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: Kazunori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Baba
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Taketani
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004594:Electrophysiology / Q000295:instrumentation; D005260:Female; D005324:Fetal Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D005552:Forelimb / Q000502:physiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012756:Sheep; D014953:Wrist