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Detection of atrial-flutter and atrial-fibrillation waveforms by fetal magnetocardiogram

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Abstract

Two cases of fetal tachycardia are reported: atrial flutter and fibrillation. The waveforms from each case were detected by fetal magnetocardiograms (FMCGs) using a 64-channel superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) system. Because the magnitude of supraventricular arrhythmia signals is very weak, two subtraction methods were used to detect the fetal MCG waveforms: subtraction of the maternal MCG signal, and subtraction of the fetal QRS complex signal. It was found that atrial-flutter waveforms showed a cyclic pattern and that atrial-fibrillation waveforms showed f-waves with a random atrial rhythm. Fast Fourier transform analysis determined the main frequency of the atrial flutter to be about 7 Hz, and the frequency distribution of atrial fibrillation consisted of small, broad peaks. To visualise the current pattern, current-arrow maps, which simplify the observation of pseudo-current patterns in fetal hearts, of the averaged atrial flutter and fibrillation waveforms were produced. The map of the atrial flutter had a circular pattern, indicating a re-entry circuit, and the map of the atrial fibrillation indicated one wavelet, which was produced by a micro-re-entry circuit. It is thus concluded that an FMCG can detect supraventricular arrhythmia, which can be characterised by re-entry circuits, in fetuses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hitachi, Ltd, Central Research Laboratory, Tokyo, Japan

    A. Kandori, T. Miyashita & K. Tsukada

  2. Division of Perinatology, National Cardiovascular Center, Osaka, Japan

    T. Hosono, T. Kanagawa, S. Miyashita & Y. Chiba

  3. Hitachi, Ltd, Ibaraki, Japan

    M. Murakami

Authors
  1. A. Kandori
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  2. T. Hosono
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  3. T. Kanagawa
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  4. S. Miyashita
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  5. Y. Chiba
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  6. M. Murakami
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  7. T. Miyashita
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  8. K. Tsukada
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Correspondence to A. Kandori.

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Kandori, A., Hosono, T., Kanagawa, T. et al. Detection of atrial-flutter and atrial-fibrillation waveforms by fetal magnetocardiogram. Med Bio Eng Comput 40, 213–217 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02348127

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02348127

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