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Allowing the health care professional to know EXACTLY when to tell the mother to push
About
Problem 1 Vaginal examination in labour is very subjective, especially for the assessment of fetal head station. This results in inconsistency between different assessors and difficulty in communication on labour wards. It also presents a legal risk if the station is inaccurately assessed prior to operative vaginal delivery Problem 2 Women with epidurals often have difficulty pushing leading to high rates of operative vaginal delivery. A biofeedback method whereby they can visualise head station in real time would assist in progress during delivery, and reduce rates of intervention. Technology The device is a modified amniotomy hook with a sliding measuring device along its shaft. It measures the distance from posterior fourchette to the leading part of the head and gives a result, in station, below or above the ischial spines. For more accurate assessment the device can also be customised to account for variations in the woman’s pelvic size A discrete version of the device is a small wireless internal device that measures the rate of head descent and sends signals to a PDA on which the woman can see real-time feedback about the position of the head and progress in labour. USP/Competitive Advantage There are no other devices that can accurately assess fetal head station. The closest competitor used external ultrasonic triangulating probes and fetal head clips to assess relative position. The Device is simple, low cost and easy to use. It’s similarity to the simple amniotomy hook makes it acceptable to midwives and doctors alike. The smaller version is the first conveniently practical device in the world to provide realtime feedback, based on the familiarity of the mobile phone / PDA format Markets Regular clinical use (largest market) Training of midwives/junior doctors (medium size market) Research institutions (smaller market) With approx 10M p.a. births across EU and US, anticipate to capture 10% of that market for the station master, but for electronic device much more routine usage is anticipated. The technology is currently undergoing clinical testing and requires partners to progress to full manufacture.