Michael Braukus                               February 23, 2000
Headquarters, Washington, DC
(Phone:  202/358-1979)

Keith Henry
Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA
(Phone:  757/864-6120)

RELEASE:  00-31

TINY HEARTS MONITORED BY NASA TECHNOLOGY

     The results are in.  A NASA technology originally used to 
measure airflow over airplane wings has been successfully used to 
develop a portable, non-invasive, easy-to-use fetal heart monitor.  

     The new clinically proven fetal heart monitor takes advantage 
of aerospace technology to make it more affordable, portable and 
easy to use by expectant mothers in their own homes.  What's more, 
it "listens, documents and stores" fetal heart-rate data without 
injecting energy into the womb, making it totally non-invasive. 

     A team of aerospace researchers from NASA's Langley Research 
Center, Hampton, VA, worked with Veatronics, Inc., of Charlotte, 
NC, to convert the technology to this innovative medical 
application.  NASA granted the company a license to market one or 
more commercial products based on the technology.

     "Because the material we used for wing surface measurements 
is flexible, it is ideally suited to fit over the curved surface 
of a maternal abdomen for fetal testing," said Allan Zukerwar of 
Langley's Advanced Measurement and Diagnostics Branch.

     Current fetal heart-monitoring devices generally work well 
but cost many thousands of dollars and can only be used in a 
clinic or doctor's office.

     NASA developed the portable technology at the suggestion of a 
medical doctor in a remote area that suffers from a lack of 
appropriate health care.  For several reasons, when expectant 
mothers do not receive necessary prenatal care, the result is 
often increased fetal mortality.

     In its present form, an at-home patient would strap a wide, 
soft belt embedded with sensors over her belly, tune a 
computerized control device to hear the fetal heartbeat and send 
the signal directly to her doctor's office via the Internet.  The 
device is as easy to use as tuning a radio, which one doctor 
considers essential to its ultimate success.

     "I think the portability of this technology will make it very 
useful," said Dr. Kevin Gomez, a specialist in maternal fetal 
medicine at Atlanta Perinatal Associates, Atlanta, GA.  "Instead 
of having patients travel to where the technology is, have the 
technology travel to the patients." 

     Dr. Gomez led a recently completed series of NASA-sponsored 
clinical trials at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta.  
Clinical trials also were sponsored at Eastern Virginia Medical 
School, Norfolk, VA, and at Encino/Tarzana Medical Center, Encino, 
CA.  Among other things, the trials are expected to establish that 
the NASA acoustic monitor meets federal Food and Drug 
Administration guidelines.  Results are being compared to those 
recorded via Doppler ultrasound and scalp-electrode monitors, and 
also to standard accepted measurements.

     The Morehouse trials, along with continuing investigations at 
Atlanta Perinatal, proved to Dr. Gomez's satisfaction that the 
technology offers an easy-to-use alternative to visits to the 
doctor's office.  This is especially important, he explained, for 
high-risk patients who should be examined twice a week or more, or 
for patients who cannot easily travel.  All of Dr. Gomez's 
patients are considered high-risk, due to maternal complications 
of pregnancy or fetal abnormalities.  

     Even perfectly healthy patients may not be able to afford the 
time or money for periodic trips to the doctor -- or may find 
themselves ordered to long periods of bed rest.

The new method of checking fetal heart behavior might actually 
prove to be a better way of monitoring some pregnancies than 
technologies now in use.  In addition, the system could provide 
objective data to complement information gained from other 
methods.

                         - end -

Editor's Note: B-roll and soundbite video is available that 
includes the technology's original aviation application and its 
use with fetal heart-monitor patients.  Contact Ivelisse Gilman of 
Langley Public Affairs at (757) 864-5036 or 

                  i.gilman@larc.nasa.gov.