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Dr A Heazell, Dr J Wijekoon
No more applications being accepted
Competition Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)
About the Project
Of around 700,000 pregnancies in the UK each year, 10% will end in significant complications for the mother or baby; Stillbirth affects 1 in 240 pregnancies after 24 weeks of pregnancy. Pregnancy complications not only challenge expectations of a healthy outcome for pregnancy but also have psychosocial implications for families. Currently, fetal wellbeing in complicated pregnancies can be assessed by maternal assessment of fetal movements and intermittent recording of the fetal heart rate by cardiotocography in hospital. However, neither of these approaches reduces stillbirth. Maternal perception of fetal movement only identifies a fraction of large body movements, while intermittent cardiotocography does not inform clinicians about critical events that may occur in the hours or days after the recording is made.
Therefore, the main aim of this project is to develop a device to continually and objectively measure fetal movements (FM) and fetal heart rate (FHR) which has the potential to provide medium to long-term assessment of fetal wellbeing and focus medical intervention to compromised pregnancies, reducing the likelihood of stillbirth, and to reassure women with healthy infants. This effective solution to the problem of objectively monitoring both FM and FHR over a long period would need to be able to respond to changes in fetal position, differentiate maternal heart rate (MHR) and FHR, be portable and acceptable to the women who use it. First prototype has been developed with an integrated array of sensors in contact with the maternal skin. Currently, the prototype successfully provides an electrical signal comprising of MHR, FHR and FM. The primary objectives of the proposed project is to separate these signals to identify the unique long duration continuous MHR, FHR and the FM. Subsequent developments are needed to wirelessly transmit the MHR, FHR and the FM signals, and process these in real-time, allowing remote viewing or the device to alert the mother of the status of the fetus. To continuously monitor fetal wellbeing a stream of data from the monitoring device will get uploaded to a cloud storage, making it available to a patient management software system allowing the mother to be contacted if there are concerns with the fetal heart rate.
Finally, the monitoring strategy will need to demonstrate clinical effectiveness and be beneficial to the pregnant mother by alleviating anxiety. Clinical studies are required to demonstrate that the device reliably records MHR, FHR and FMs and does not adversely impact on maternal wellbeing.
https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/Alexander.Heazell.html
https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/Jayawan.Wijekoon.html
Therefore, the main aim of this project is to develop a device to continually and objectively measure fetal movements (FM) and fetal heart rate (FHR) which has the potential to provide medium to long-term assessment of fetal wellbeing and focus medical intervention to compromised pregnancies, reducing the likelihood of stillbirth, and to reassure women with healthy infants. This effective solution to the problem of objectively monitoring both FM and FHR over a long period would need to be able to respond to changes in fetal position, differentiate maternal heart rate (MHR) and FHR, be portable and acceptable to the women who use it. First prototype has been developed with an integrated array of sensors in contact with the maternal skin. Currently, the prototype successfully provides an electrical signal comprising of MHR, FHR and FM. The primary objectives of the proposed project is to separate these signals to identify the unique long duration continuous MHR, FHR and the FM. Subsequent developments are needed to wirelessly transmit the MHR, FHR and the FM signals, and process these in real-time, allowing remote viewing or the device to alert the mother of the status of the fetus. To continuously monitor fetal wellbeing a stream of data from the monitoring device will get uploaded to a cloud storage, making it available to a patient management software system allowing the mother to be contacted if there are concerns with the fetal heart rate.
Finally, the monitoring strategy will need to demonstrate clinical effectiveness and be beneficial to the pregnant mother by alleviating anxiety. Clinical studies are required to demonstrate that the device reliably records MHR, FHR and FMs and does not adversely impact on maternal wellbeing.
https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/Alexander.Heazell.html
https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/Jayawan.Wijekoon.html
Funding Notes
This project is funded under the MRC Doctoral Training Partnership. If you are interested, please make contact with the Principal Supervisor to discuss the project further as soon as possible. You MUST also submit an online application form - full details on how to apply can be found on our website http://www.manchester.ac.uk/mrcdtpstudentships
Applications are invited from UK/EU nationals only. Applicants must have obtained, or be about to obtain, at least an upper second class honours degree (or equivalent) in a relevant subject. It is preferred if the candidate has some knowledge of discrete electronic circuits and/or signal processing techniques
Applications are invited from UK/EU nationals only. Applicants must have obtained, or be about to obtain, at least an upper second class honours degree (or equivalent) in a relevant subject. It is preferred if the candidate has some knowledge of discrete electronic circuits and/or signal processing techniques
References
[1] Crawford A., Hayes D., Johnstone E.D., Heazell A.E. (2017) Women’s experiences of continuous fetal monitoring – a mixed-methods systematic review. Acta Obstet Gynecol (In Press).
[2] Brown R., Johnstone E.D., Heazell A.E. (2016). Professionals' views of fetal-monitoring support the development of devices to provide objective longer-term assessment of fetal wellbeing. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. 29, 13, p. 1680-6.
[3] Brown R., Higgins L., Johnstone E.D., Wijekoon J. & Heazell A.E. (2015) Maternal perception of fetal movements in late pregnancy is affected by type and duration of fetal movement, J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med 29, 13, p. 2145-2150.
[4] Brown R., Wijekoon J., Fernando A., Johnstone E.D., & Heazell A.E. (2014) Continuous objective recording of fetal heart rate and fetal movements could reliably identify fetal compromise, which could reduce stillbirth rates by facilitating timely management, Medical Hypotheses. 83, 3, p. 410-417.
[5] Wang Y., Fernando A., & Wijekoon J. (2015) Nano Silver impregnated nonwoven piezo-resistive bio-sensors. In host publication, 15th AUTEX World Textile Conference 2015, Romania, 10-12 June.
[2] Brown R., Johnstone E.D., Heazell A.E. (2016). Professionals' views of fetal-monitoring support the development of devices to provide objective longer-term assessment of fetal wellbeing. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. 29, 13, p. 1680-6.
[3] Brown R., Higgins L., Johnstone E.D., Wijekoon J. & Heazell A.E. (2015) Maternal perception of fetal movements in late pregnancy is affected by type and duration of fetal movement, J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med 29, 13, p. 2145-2150.
[4] Brown R., Wijekoon J., Fernando A., Johnstone E.D., & Heazell A.E. (2014) Continuous objective recording of fetal heart rate and fetal movements could reliably identify fetal compromise, which could reduce stillbirth rates by facilitating timely management, Medical Hypotheses. 83, 3, p. 410-417.
[5] Wang Y., Fernando A., & Wijekoon J. (2015) Nano Silver impregnated nonwoven piezo-resistive bio-sensors. In host publication, 15th AUTEX World Textile Conference 2015, Romania, 10-12 June.
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