To provide a method and system for positioning a transducer of a Doppler ultrasonic fetal beat rate monitor at an optimum location on the abdomen of a pregnant patient.
The method includes using a transducer (10) positioned on the abdomen of a pregnant patient. A conventional audio envelope that drives an audio amplifiers of a Doppler ultrasonic monitor (14) is used. The audio envelope is used to determine an average maximum and minimum values of the signal strength over a period of time. Those values establish a full span and can be continuously updated as the monitoring is carried out. The average maximum and minimum strength values are used to create a visual display (18) of a particular set of signals from the patient. The visual display is used by a caregiver to locate the transducer (10) at an optimum location in contact with the skin of the patient in the abdominal area.
Hirokazu Ogura
Toshihisa Kurokawa
Arakawa Satoshi