Performance comparison of coupling-evaluation methods in discriminating between pregnancy and labor EHG signals.

Background: Recent years have seen an increased interest in electrohysterogram (EHG) signals as a means to evaluate the synchronization of uterine contractions. Several studies have pointed out that the quality of signal processing - and hence the interpretation of measurement results - is affected significantly by the choice of measurement technique and the presence of non-stationary frequency content in EHG signals. To our knowledge, the effect of time variance on the quality of EHG signal processing has never been fully investigated.

Fentanyl in a pectin gel treating breakthrough pain in vertebral compression fracture due to multiple myeloma: A descriptive study of three cases.

Breakthrough pain (BTP) currently represents a challenge for health professionals dedicated to the treatment of pain. In this descriptive 1-year follow-up study on three patients with BTP from vertebral crush, in the context of multiple myeloma, the authors have observed the great either efficacy or tolerability profile of fentanyl pectin nasal spray. The most relevant findings in this study were better adherence to treatment compared to previously opioids and also great personal satisfaction.

Effect of filtering on the classification rate of nonlinear analysis methods applied to uterine EMG signals.

Nonlinear time series analysis can provide useful information regarding nonlinear features of biological signals. The effect of filtering on the performance of nonlinear methods is not well-understood. In this work, we investigate the effects of signal filtering on the sensitivity of four nonlinear methods: Time reversibility, Sample Entropy, Lyapunov Exponents and Delay Vector Variance.

The Icelandic 16-electrode electrohysterogram database.

External recordings of the electrohysterogram (EHG) can provide new knowledge on uterine electrical activity associated with contractions. Better understanding of the mechanisms underlying labor can contribute to preventing preterm birth which is the main cause of mortality and morbidity in newborns. Promising results using the EHG for labor prediction and other uses in obstetric care are the drivers of this work.

Comparing three devices for jump height measurement in a heterogeneous group of subjects.

The purpose of this study was to compare the accuracy of 3 devices for measuring jump heights of subjects with a range of abilities. The methods used were an accelerometer-based technique (KineJump), a contact mat (Newtest Powertimer 300 series), and the Vertec measurement device. The reference method used was a video analysis technique.

Performance analysis of four nonlinearity analysis methods using a model with variable complexity and application to uterine EMG signals.

Several measures have been proposed to detect nonlinear characteristics in time series. Results on time series, multiple surrogates and their z-score are used to statistically test for the presence or absence of non-linearity. The z-score itself has sometimes been used as a measure of nonlinearity.

A multiscale model of the electrohysterogram the BioModUE_PTL project.

The electrohysterogram (EHG) is a promising means of monitoring pregnancy and of detecting a risk of preterm labor. To improve our understanding of the EHG as well as its relationship with the physiologic phenomena involved in uterine contractility, we plan to model these phenomena in terms of generation and propagation of uterine electrical activity. This activity can be realistically modeled by representing the principal ionic dynamics at the cell level, the propagation of electrical activity at the tissue level and then the way it is reflected on the skin surface through the intervening tissue.

Windowed multivariate autoregressive model improving classification of labor vs. pregnancy contractions.

Analyzing the propagation of uterine electrical activity is poised to become a powerful tool in labor detection and for the prediction of preterm labor. Several methods have been proposed to investigate the relationship between signals recorded externally from several sites on the pregnant uterus. A promising recent method is the multivariate autoregressive (MVAR) model.

Bivariate piecewise stationary segmentation; improved pre-treatment for synchronization measures used on non-stationary biological signals.

Analysis of synchronization between biological signals can be helpful in characterization of biological functions. Many commonly used measures of synchronicity assume that the signal is stationary. Biomedical signals are however often strongly non stationary.

Better pregnancy monitoring using nonlinear correlation analysis of external uterine electromyography.

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the novel method for analyzing the nonlinear correlation of the uterine electromyography (EMG). The application of this method may improve monitoring in pregnancy, labor detection, and preterm labor detection. Uterine EMG signals recorded from a 4 × 4 matrix of electrodes on the subjects' abdomen are used here.

Combination of canonical correlation analysis and empirical mode decomposition applied to denoising the labor electrohysterogram.

The electrohysterogram (EHG) is often corrupted by electronic and electromagnetic noise as well as movement artifacts, skeletal electromyogram, and ECGs from both mother and fetus. The interfering signals are sporadic and/or have spectra overlapping the spectra of the signals of interest rendering classical filtering ineffective. In the absence of efficient methods for denoising the monopolar EHG signal, bipolar methods are usually used.

Comparison between approximate entropy, correntropy and time reversibility: application to uterine electromyogram signals.

Detection of nonlinearity should be the first step before any analysis of nonlinearity or nonlinear behavior in biological signal. The question is which method should be used in each case and which one can best respect the different characteristics of the signals under investigation. In this paper we compare three methods widely used in nonlinearity detection: approximate entropy, correntropy and time reversibility.

Uterine electromyogram database and processing function interface: An open standard analysis platform for electrohysterogram signals.

The uterine electromyogram or electrohysterogram (EHG) is one of the most promising biophysical markers of preterm labor. At this time no recording parameter standard exists for EHG recordings which can be a problem for the establishment of international multicentric trials. In this paper, we present a management and processing system dedicated to storing and processing EHG signals.