%0 Journal Article
%T Automatic Identification of Motion Artifacts in EHG Recording for Robust Analysis of Uterine Contractions
%A Yiyao Ye-Lin
%A Javier Garcia-Casado
%A Gema Prats-Boluda
%A Jos¨¦ Alberola-Rubio
%A Alfredo Perales
%J Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine
%D 2014
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2014/470786
%X Electrohysterography (EHG) is a noninvasive technique for monitoring uterine electrical activity. However, the presence of artifacts in the EHG signal may give rise to erroneous interpretations and make it difficult to extract useful information from these recordings. The aim of this work was to develop an automatic system of segmenting EHG recordings that distinguishes between uterine contractions and artifacts. Firstly, the segmentation is performed using an algorithm that generates the TOCO-like signal derived from the EHG and detects windows with significant changes in amplitude. After that, these segments are classified in two groups: artifacted and nonartifacted signals. To develop a classifier, a total of eleven spectral, temporal, and nonlinear features were calculated from EHG signal windows from 12 women in the first stage of labor that had previously been classified by experts. The combination of characteristics that led to the highest degree of accuracy in detecting artifacts was then determined. The results showed that it is possible to obtain automatic detection of motion artifacts in segmented EHG recordings with a precision of 92.2% using only seven features. The proposed algorithm and classifier together compose a useful tool for analyzing EHG signals and would help to promote clinical applications of this technique. 1. Introduction Monitoring uterine contractions is commonly used to estimate the time of an approaching labour. In spite of the fact that intrauterine pressure (IUP) is regarded as the gold standard in monitoring these contractions, its use in clinical practice is limited since it requires rupturing the membranes to place a catheter inside the uterus. This not only leads to delivery but may also increase the risk of intrapartum infection [1]. Hospitals often use a pressure transducer (TOCOdynamometer or TOCO) placed on the mother¡¯s abdomen for basic noninvasive monitoring of uterine activity, thus obtaining the frequency and duration of contractions. However, the TOCO is not a reliable technique, as the measurements obtained are by no means precise and depend to a large extent on the subjective criteria of the operator [2¨C4]. Neither do they provide much additional information on the efficiency of contractions in order to decide whether parturition is near. However, in spite of these disadvantages, the technique is widely used in maternity clinics due to its non-invasive nature. The electrohysterogram (EHG) is the recording of uterine electrical activity from the abdominal surface. Earlier studies have shown that the EHG
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/cmmm/2014/470786/