Comparative Analysis of Non-Invasive fPCG and fECG for Fetal Heart Rate Monitoring
Year: 2026
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: Fetal heart rate (FHR) monitoring is an important tool for fetal monitoring and early detection of fetal distress during pregnancy. As the conventional invasive fetal monitoring methods are uncomfortable to the fetus and not suitable for long-term monitoring, a growing interest in non-invasive fetal monitoring technologies has emerged. Of these, fetal phonocardiography (fPCG) and fetal electrocardiography (fECG) are seen as promising ways of assessing fetal cardiac function in a safe and real-time manner. This review will provide a comparison of the non-invasive fPCG and fECG techniques, focusing on signal quality, noise immunity, biomedical properties and clinical applications. This study explores the principles of signal acquisition, physiological signal characteristics, sources of noise in physiological signals, signal filtering, and the use of AI to assist in the analysis of physiological signals. In addition, the review addresses recent developments in wearable health watch devices, smart fetal monitoring systems for patient condition, and hybrid multimodal fetal monitoring techniques to enhance the accuracy of the diagnosis and continuous maternal-fetal health monitoring.
Authors: Manju T. Kurian, P. Rajalakshmy
Institution: Karunya University
Language: English
Subfield: Biomedical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7203906754