Labor is a dangerous time for the fetus. Currently technology to monitor fetal condition is
inadequate. Fetal heart rate tracing (FHR) is imprecise with poor positive predictive value, leading to frequent misdiagnosis of fetal distress. As a result, unnecessary interventions such as Cesarean Section (CS) are common. Reliance on FHR can also lead to delayed diagnosis of fetal distress. Fetal pH serves as the gold standard for diagnosis of fetal distress.
The aim of this project is to develop a hand-held instrument that can give an immediate
bedside reading of the fetal blood pH, pCO2, and/or lactate. The device should provide a rapid and accurate bedside diagnosis of fetal distress during labor, be nurse operable (physician not needed), be quick and painless to the mother, accurate results in less than 5 minutes, safe and low cost. The project goal will focus on developing a method to collect small amounts of blood from the scalp of the fetus using a suction cup in the handheld device.
Video Resources on Fetal Blood Sampling:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3D4DXC9r2DVg4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DLnzygwYPXGE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3Df_k1PmX0YJs
Project Mentor:
Engineering Mentor: Christine King, PhD, Department of Biomedical Engineering, UC Irvine, kingce@uci.edu
Physician Mentor: Dinh Vu, MD, MBA, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, UC Irvine, dvu2222@gmail.com
Other Support:Elliot Botvinick, PhD, Department of Biomedical Engineering, UC Irvine, elliot.botvinick@uci.edu
Team:
| Member Last Name | Member First Name | Lead? | Email (@uci.edu) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheuk | Anthony | acheuk | |
| Johnson | Julie Anne Hope | julieaj1 | |
| Lopez | Gregory Andrew | gregorl1 | |
| Olivares | Alondra | Yes | alondro1 |
| Romero Mercieca | Heather Carmen | hmerciec | |
| Tahir | Mahum | mahumt | |