title: Quantification of fetal magnetoencephalographic activity in low-risk fetuses using burst duration and interburst interval.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify quantitative MEG indices of spontaneous brain activity for fetal neurological maturation in normal pregnancies and examine the effect of fetal state on these indices.
  
  
  METHODS
  Spontaneous MEG brain activity was examined in 22 low-risk fetal recordings with gestational age (GA) ranging from 30 to 37 weeks. As major quantitative characteristics of spontaneous activity, burst duration (BD) and interburst interval (IBI) were studied in correlation with GA and fetal state.
  
  
  RESULTS
  IBI showed a decrease with gestational age (-0.21 s/week, P=0.0031). This trend was only maintained in the quiet-sleep state. With respect to BD, no significant trends were detected with GA and state.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  IBI can be quantified as a fetal brain maturational parameter. The decrease in IBI over gestation was similar to the trend reported in the preterm neonatal EEG studies. Quiet sleep could be the optimal state to study such MEG maturational indices.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  With further investigation, indices extracted from spontaneous fetal brain activity may serve as an early warning for fetal neurological distress.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Technology, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, AR, USA.
authors.forename: Srinivasan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vairavan
authors.affiliation: Division of Fetal and Transitional Medicine, Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Rathinaswamy B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Govindan
authors.affiliation: Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, Education City, Doha, Qatar.
authors.forename: Naim
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Haddad
authors.affiliation: SARA Fetal MEG Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA; Fetal MEG Center, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Hubert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Preissl
authors.affiliation: SARA Fetal MEG Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA.
authors.forename: Curtis L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Lowery
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Siegel
authors.affiliation: SARA Fetal MEG Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA. Electronic address: eswaranhari@uams.edu.
authors.forename: Hari
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Eswaran
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000196:embryology*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D047109:Fetal Development; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D015225:Magnetoencephalography / Q000379:methods*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012016:Reference Values; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal
keywords: Brain activity; Burst duration; EEG; Fetus; Interburst interval; Magnetoencephalography; Quantification