APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING CONDITION OF FETUS BY LISTENING TO HEARTBEATING Russian patent published in 1997 - IPC

FIELD: medicine; perinatology; obstetrics; cardiomonitoring of fetus for diagnostic purposes. SUBSTANCE: proposed apparatus comprises piezoelectric elements which are placed onto anterior abdominal wall of pregnant woman. These elements are adapted to emit probing ultrasound pulses and to receive signals reflected by body tissues of mother and fetus. Later obstetrist isolates from these reflected signals Doppler shift frequency generated only by movement of fetus's heart walls. Apparatus comprises two additional units adapted to convert these signals from frequency range 200-600 Hz to frequency range from 16 kHz to 50 Hz. These additionally incorporated units enable apparatus to detect weaker signals undetectable by conventional equipment (e.g. with earlier pregnancy terms starting from 7 weeks, in women suffering from obesity). EFFECT: broader range of technical possibilities; reduced weight and dimensions; lower consumed power; greater sensitivity and resolution power. 5 cl, 4 dwg