Mechanical and electrical uterine activity. Part I. Contractions monitoring

Abstract

Summary Correct uterine contraction activity during labour determines physiological fetal delivery and ensures its satisfactory outcome. Contraction activity monitoring may be accomplished by either recording of the mechanical properties of the uterine muscle and/or by measurement of the action potentials produced by the uterus during contraction. In the following paper, the current state of knowledge concerning the methods for assessment and monitoring of the uterine contraction activity was evaluated. The electrophysiological properties of the uterus were given. The mechanical methods of uterine activity monitoring: internal and external tocography were described. The development of the electrohysterography as the method providing the signal comprising complete information on bioelectrical properties of the uterine muscle was presented. The conclusion was that the analysis of the electrohysterogram enables a description of the source of the uterine contraction activity, whereas currently applied mechanical methods merely record the results of this activity.