Assessing Velocity and Directionality of Uterine Electrical Activity for Preterm Birth Prediction Using EHG Surface Records
The aim of the present study was to assess the capability of conduction velocity amplitudes and directions of propagation of electrohysterogram (EHG) waves to better distinguish between preterm and term EHG surface records. Using short-time cross-correlation between pairs of bipolar EHG signals (upp...
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MDPI AG
2020-12-01
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| Series: | Sensors |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/20/24/7328 |
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| author | Franc Jager Ksenija Geršak Paula Vouk Žiga Pirnar Andreja Trojner-Bregar Miha Lučovnik Ana Borovac |
| author_facet | Franc Jager Ksenija Geršak Paula Vouk Žiga Pirnar Andreja Trojner-Bregar Miha Lučovnik Ana Borovac |
| author_sort | Franc Jager |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The aim of the present study was to assess the capability of conduction velocity amplitudes and directions of propagation of electrohysterogram (EHG) waves to better distinguish between preterm and term EHG surface records. Using short-time cross-correlation between pairs of bipolar EHG signals (upper and lower, left and right), the conduction velocities and their directions were estimated using preterm and term EHG records of the publicly available Term–Preterm EHG DataSet with Tocogram (TPEHGT DS) and for different frequency bands below and above 1.0 Hz, where contractions and the influence of the maternal heart rate on the uterus, respectively, are expected. No significant or preferred continuous direction of propagation was found in any of the non-contraction (dummy) or contraction intervals; however, on average, a significantly lower percentage of velocity vectors was found in the vertical direction, and significantly higher in the horizontal direction, for preterm dummy intervals above 1.0 Hz. The newly defined features—the percentages of velocities in the vertical and horizontal directions, in combination with the sample entropy of the EHG signal recorded in the vertical direction, obtained from dummy intervals above 1.0 Hz—showed the highest classification accuracy of 86.8% (<inline-formula><math display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mi>A</mi><mi>U</mi><mi>C</mi><mo>=</mo><mn>90.3</mn><mo>%</mo></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>) in distinguishing between preterm and term EHG records of the TPEHGT DS. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T13:54:18Z |
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| id | doaj.art-75c5f53949514631adc0de4b4e9a5a35 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-8220 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T13:54:18Z |
| publishDate | 2020-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sensors |
| spelling | doaj.art-75c5f53949514631adc0de4b4e9a5a352023-11-21T01:46:14ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202020-12-012024732810.3390/s20247328Assessing Velocity and Directionality of Uterine Electrical Activity for Preterm Birth Prediction Using EHG Surface RecordsFranc Jager0Ksenija Geršak1Paula Vouk2Žiga Pirnar3Andreja Trojner-Bregar4Miha Lučovnik5Ana Borovac6Faculty of Computer and Information Science, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, SloveniaFaculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, SloveniaFaculty of Computer and Information Science, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, SloveniaFaculty of Computer and Information Science, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, SloveniaFaculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, SloveniaFaculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, SloveniaFaculty of Computer and Information Science, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, SloveniaThe aim of the present study was to assess the capability of conduction velocity amplitudes and directions of propagation of electrohysterogram (EHG) waves to better distinguish between preterm and term EHG surface records. Using short-time cross-correlation between pairs of bipolar EHG signals (upper and lower, left and right), the conduction velocities and their directions were estimated using preterm and term EHG records of the publicly available Term–Preterm EHG DataSet with Tocogram (TPEHGT DS) and for different frequency bands below and above 1.0 Hz, where contractions and the influence of the maternal heart rate on the uterus, respectively, are expected. No significant or preferred continuous direction of propagation was found in any of the non-contraction (dummy) or contraction intervals; however, on average, a significantly lower percentage of velocity vectors was found in the vertical direction, and significantly higher in the horizontal direction, for preterm dummy intervals above 1.0 Hz. The newly defined features—the percentages of velocities in the vertical and horizontal directions, in combination with the sample entropy of the EHG signal recorded in the vertical direction, obtained from dummy intervals above 1.0 Hz—showed the highest classification accuracy of 86.8% (<inline-formula><math display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mi>A</mi><mi>U</mi><mi>C</mi><mo>=</mo><mn>90.3</mn><mo>%</mo></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>) in distinguishing between preterm and term EHG records of the TPEHGT DS.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/20/24/7328electrohysterogrampropagation of EHG wavesshort-time cross-correlationdummy intervalscontraction intervalsconduction velocity |
| spellingShingle | Franc Jager Ksenija Geršak Paula Vouk Žiga Pirnar Andreja Trojner-Bregar Miha Lučovnik Ana Borovac Assessing Velocity and Directionality of Uterine Electrical Activity for Preterm Birth Prediction Using EHG Surface Records Sensors electrohysterogram propagation of EHG waves short-time cross-correlation dummy intervals contraction intervals conduction velocity |
| title | Assessing Velocity and Directionality of Uterine Electrical Activity for Preterm Birth Prediction Using EHG Surface Records |
| title_full | Assessing Velocity and Directionality of Uterine Electrical Activity for Preterm Birth Prediction Using EHG Surface Records |
| title_fullStr | Assessing Velocity and Directionality of Uterine Electrical Activity for Preterm Birth Prediction Using EHG Surface Records |
| title_full_unstemmed | Assessing Velocity and Directionality of Uterine Electrical Activity for Preterm Birth Prediction Using EHG Surface Records |
| title_short | Assessing Velocity and Directionality of Uterine Electrical Activity for Preterm Birth Prediction Using EHG Surface Records |
| title_sort | assessing velocity and directionality of uterine electrical activity for preterm birth prediction using ehg surface records |
| topic | electrohysterogram propagation of EHG waves short-time cross-correlation dummy intervals contraction intervals conduction velocity |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/20/24/7328 |
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