The long term goal is to refine a vaginal transducer for measuring blood velocity and flow in the uterine arteries of pregnant and non-pregnant subjects. The prototype uses a remotely rotated ultrasound crystal inside a transducer which is held in stable position on the cervix with rigid cervical cup. Initial trials in non-pregnant subjects showed clean and well defined artery velocity spectra and means of the spectra:loss of the signals was unusual even with Kegel and other maneuvers. Recordings in pregnancy showed well defined traces of uterine artery and three of its branches. There were no injuries to subjects. Goal of Phase I are to modify the probes for two planes of cyrstal rotation and for measurement of insonication angles. Phase II goals are to add a sector scanner for artery diameter measurements, to evaluate the accuracy of the probes for flow measurements, and to record velocity and flow in both uterine arteries simultaneously. The quality and stability of the signals with both pregnant and non- pregnant indicates that method may have significant advantages and multiple applications for research and clinical obstetrics & gynecology.
| Hofmeister, J F; Slocumb, J C; Kottmann, L M et al. (1994) A noninvasive method for recording the electrical activity of the human uterus in vivo. Biomed Instrum Technol 28:391-404 |
