Application of wavelet coherence to the detection of uterine electrical activity synchronization in labor

Abstract This paper introduces the use of a method based on wavelet transform to detect the correlation between two uterine electrical activity bursts, recorded at different places on the pregnant abdomen during the same uterine contraction. The method used in this work is called wavelet coherence. The results of this study show that the wavelet analysis can successfully detect and quantify the temporal and spectral interactions between uterine bursts of electrical activity. They also indicate that the coherence is higher in the lower frequencies of the uterine electromyogram signal (EHG), and that it is possible to apply the method to non-segmented uterine signals. We find the method to give promising results permitting to evidence the coherence present in EHGs during a uterine contraction.

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