SBIR-STTR Award

The hardcopy fetal monitoring record (FMR) produced and annotated during labor contains the history of the labor and is part of the patient's record. The bulk and form of the FMR is unacceptable for the chart, the medical records system, or long-term retention, all of which are critical to patient management as well as documentation of care provided. Microfilming is expensive and time consuming, and must be carefully managed. An efficient and effective solution is to automatically capture the FMR data during labor in order to print a hardcopy of archival quality suitable for insertion into the chart. Machine review and storage are added benefits.This project involves adding memory, processing, and printing to Biomedics' digital bedside obstetrical data system (FetaScan 1000). This system will print all annotated FMR's in chart-compatible form at any time. Phase I covers building, validating, and documenting a prototype system. Validation will include clinical acceptability of the reformatted and compressed data, video review features, and a machine-readable storage method.National Institute Of Child Health And Human Development

This program aims to solve the fetal monitoring records (FMR) handling and archiving problems. In the Phase I feasibility demonstration, a microcomputer automatically captured the FMR, reformatted, and reduced it, and then printed records suitable for clinical and archival use. An online evaluation was done in the clinic, and a consultant board favorably reviewed records. They suggested format enhancements and recommended further evaluations on a large number and broad spectrum of patients. During Phase II, these changes will be implemented and working systems capable of daily hospital use, remote access from the office, and small clinic use will be field tested. By using a series of consultant reviews and clinical studies, the researchers will refine the outputs and measure the system's effect on the evaluation of FMR, and on costs, insurance, malpractice issues, and physicians' office time efficiency. Appropriate agency recognition will be sought to allow widespread use of the system. The result of Phase II will be systems and programs ready for product development.National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)