Noninvasive high-resolution electromyometrial imaging of uterine contractions in a translational sheep model (original) (raw)

Science Translational Medicine

Abstract

In current clinical practice, uterine contractions are monitored via a tocodynamometer or an intrauterine pressure catheter, both of which provide crude information about contractions. Although electrohysterography/electromyography can measure uterine electrical activity, this method lacks spatial specificity and thus cannot accurately measure the exact location of electrical initiation and location-specific propagation patterns of uterine contractions. To comprehensively evaluate three-dimensional uterine electrical activation patterns, we describe here the development of electromyometrial imaging (EMMI) to display the three-dimensional uterine contractions at high spatial and temporal resolution. EMMI combines detailed body surface electrical recording with body-uterus geometry derived from magnetic resonance images. We used a sheep model to show that EMMI can reconstruct uterine electrical activation patterns from electrodes placed on the abdomen. These patterns closely match tho...

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