American and European health regulators have approved a new technology that will make pregnancy monitoring more accessible and less expensive for those who can’t easily visit a hospital or clinic.
Sense4Baby is a portable system that measures three key pregnancy metrics: fetal and maternal heart rates, as well as uterine contractions. The information is sent by Bluetooth technology to a mobile phone or tablet device, which can then be accessed by a health care professional.
The monitor provides what’s called non-stress testing. A Doppler measures fetal and maternal heart rates, while uterine contractions are tracked with a pressure sensor. Pricing isn’t yet firm, but the cost to the pregnant women is expected be lower as they won’t have to travel as far.
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Image credit: Flickr user Vivian Chen
