Analysis of echographic and heart rate time and frequency domain parameters for the antepartun fetal surveillance

The paper describes a preliminary analysis of fetal heart rate parameters and echographic measurements performed in a population of about 60 fetuses including normal and intra uterine growth restricted cases. The objective is to improve the early detection of fetal sufferance conditions by measuring a multiparametric set including time and frequency domain parameters, complexity indexes and biometric measure. This analysis constitutes the first step of a wider project whose final target is to realize a prototype clinical decision support system devoted to the early identification of fetal well being modifications. The results herein presented show that the echographic indexes can help discriminating between the two groups but they may be a late sign of a distressed state of fetus