Research Methodology: FYP Point of View

Muhammad Ibn Ibrahimy Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Kulliyyah of Engineering International Islamic University Malaysia

Final-Year Project: According to EAC for accreditation of engineering degrees, The final-year project should preferably industry related, and can

provide one of the best means of introducing an investigative research oriented approach to engineering studies.

The final-year project is required to seek individual analysis and judgment, capable of being assessed independently.

The student among others is expected to develop techniques in literature review and information processing, as necessary with all research approaches.

Format of Report: Part of the template of FYP 1 and 2 provided by KOE-IIUM, ABSTRACT CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

• OVERVIEW • PROBLEM STATEMENT • OBJECTIVES • METHODOLOGY • SCOPE

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY CHAPTER 4: RESULT AND ANALYSIS CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK BIBLIOGRAPHY

Fetal Heart Rate Detection for Ambulatory Monitoring

Fetal heart rate (FHR) variations observed to assess the well-being of the fetus.

Usually 20 minutes of FHR recordings are taken at the clinic.

FHR abnormalities may however occur at any time.

The ability to perform long-term monitoring of the FHR would thus provide more information on the fetal condition.

The monitoring of the FHR from maternal abdominal ECG is the convenient option for long duration ambulatory monitoring.

Maternal Abdominal Signal

Bandpass Digital Filter (cut-off 10 & 40 Hz)

Correlation with Maternal Template

Local Maxima Search

Validate & Find Maternal R-peak

Running Average

Update Maternal Template, RR Average & Limits

Maternal HR

Fetal HR

Update Fetal RR Average & Limits

Running Average

Validate & Find Fetal R-peak

Differencing of Local Maxima & Minima

Bandpass Digital Filter (cut-off 30 & 40 Hz)

2 sec delay

Continued…

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2

3

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The detected FHR obtained from the maternal abdominal signal has been compared with the FHR given by a commercial instrument Ultrasound Fetal Monitor IFM-500 (BiOSYS Co., Ltd.)

13

bits

ADC

PIC17C44

Microcontroller

8k x 16

EPROM

Osc.

SRAM

128k x 16

Timing

Circuit

RS232

Drivers

PC

Power

Supply

+5V

-5V 6V

9600

bps

Low Bat.

Indicator

x1000

Instrumentation

Amplifier

Bandpass

Filter

10Hz 40Hz

500 Hz

Ag/AgCl

Electrodes

Record

Transmit

+5V

INTRODUCTION: Start with a couple of sentences that introduce the topic to reader. Example: The variations in the fetal heart rate (FHR) observed during pregnancy and labor have widely been used by clinicians to assess the well-being of the fetus. The physician can use the information contained in the FHR pattern to check whether the development of fetus is progressing as desired. Motivation in Research: Desire to get a research benefits; Desire to face the challenge in solving the unsolved problems; Desire to get intellectual joy of doing some creative work; Desire to be of service to society; Desire to get respectability.

PROBLEM STATEMENT: A problem statement is the description of an issue currently existing which needs to be addressed. Problem statements often have three elements: The problem itself, stated clearly with details to establish why it

is important. The method of solving the problem. The purpose, statement of objective and scope of the project

being proposed. These elements should be brief so that the reader does not get lost. One paragraph / page is enough for a statement of problem.

Example 1: An abdominal MECG that can be much larger than the FECG EMG noise from abdominal muscle activity of the patient EMG noise from the fetal Artifact noise from patient and fetal movements 50 or 60 Hz noise depends on base frequency of the power grid Instrumentation noise Skin resistance thermal noise

Much signal processing has therefore to be done to develop an efficient ambulatory monitoring system. Filtering in the frequency domain at the proper frequencies and

order could be used to reduce the false fetal peaks detection.

Example 2: Doppler ultrasound is unsuitable for long-term FHR monitoring: Because of its sensitivity to movements Expectant mother needs to be in the recumbent position Limit her physical activity during ultrasound FHR monitoring Safety hazards for long-term monitoring Method utilizing the abdominal electrocardiogram (AECG) has a better prospect for long-term monitoring: It’s non-invasive Allow instantaneous FHR recording Women can maintain normal daily activities Without exposing the fetus to ultrasound waves

OBJECTIVES: Research objective are the results sought at the end of the research process, i.e. what the researcher will be able to achieve at the end of the research study. Objective should be closely related to the statement of the problem. Example 1: The main objective of the research is to develop an effective algorithm with better performance of fetal heart rate detection for long duration. To utilize a digital bandpass filter for enhancing fetal R waves by

reducing the noises. To determine the FHR and MHR by using local maxima routines. To evaluate the detection performance of the proposed algorithm

by comparing with relevant research works.

Example 2: The main objective of the research is to develop an ambulatory system using the AECG signal to determine the fetal heart rate. To utilize a single abdominal lead signal to extract the FHR for

long-term monitoring.

To implement the algorithm in real-time using a microprocessor-based system.

To assess the accuracy of the ambulatory measurement system compared with a commercial Doppler ultrasound system.

LITERATURE REVIEW: A literature review surveys books, journal articles, conference

proceedings and any other sources relevant to a particular issue.

• Review concepts and theories • Review previous research findings

It provides a description, summary, and critical evaluation of the works in relation to the research problem being investigated.

End of the Review: You should conclude the review with a statement of your

focused research question. When this is done, you are ready to proceed with part three of your research report, in which you explain the methods you used.

Example 1: Several different approaches have been discussed to address the problem statement. Canceling MECG using thoracic MECG (Horner et al. 2015) Genetic Algorithm to obtain better matching possibility for the

MECG of the two ECG signal (Kam and Cohen 2014) Wavelet transform modulus maxima (Papadimitrio at al. 2016) Wavelet analysis method (Khamene and Negahdaripour 2013) Blind source separation (De Lathauwer et al. 2015) Adaptive noise cancellation (Widrow et al. 2017) These approaches for the extraction of fetal ECG requires the use of more than 3 electrodes, which make a difficult clinical environment for the patient during long-term monitoring.

Example 2: As an effort to achieve an efficient ambulatory FHR monitoring system, an algorithm based on digital filtering, adaptive thresholding, statistical properties in the time domain, and differencing of local maxima and minima has been proposed. Details of the proposed algorithm are described in Chapter 3.

Methods

No. of Leads

Purpose

Comments

Singular Value Decomposition Techniques (Callaerts et al. 2013)

Multiple

FECG extraction (on-line)

Complicated operation, patient discomfort and non-portable.

Time-Sequenced Adaptive Filtering (Ferrara & Widrow 2009, Ferrara & Widrow 2015)

Dual/

Multiple

FECG enhancement (off-line)

Patient discomfort and difficulty in real-time processing.

Scaled and Time-Shifted Subtraction (Horner et al. 2015)

Dual

FECG enhancement (off-line)

Matching problem with two MECG’s complexes.

Time-Shift and the Genetic Algorithm (Horner et al. 2014, Kam & Cohen 2002)

Multiple

FECG enhancement (off-line)

Requires frequent lead adjustment to overcome matching problem with two MECG’s complexes.

Scaled Abdominal MECG Template Subtraction (Mohd. Ali 2005)

Single

FHR detection (off-line)

Suitable for ambulatory monitoring but dependent on the matching of two MECG’s complexes.

Digital IIR Filtering (Kam & Cohen 2016)

Multiple

FECG extraction (off-line)

Low accuracy due to non-linear phase distortion

Time Derivative Approximation (Akselrod et al. 2015)

Single

FHR detection (on-line)

Not suitable for non-periodic FECG signal and long-term monitoring.

METHODOLOGY: Example 1: Ideal Specifications Able to process the single-lead abdominal signal and continuously detect both the

maternal and fetal R waves for the measurement of the MHR and FHR respectively.

Able to perform long-term (e.g. 24 hours) monitoring of the fetal condition during pregnancy and labor in presence of motion artifacts and interferences.

Effective in resolving the FHR when the fetal R wave and that of maternal are overlapped.

Capable of running either off-line, using recorded signals, or on-line by a clinician during antenatal examination.

The possibility of greater accuracy than that of previous methods in measurement of both the FHR and MHR.

Cost-effect implementation of the algorithm in actual use for long-term monitoring.

Example 2:

RESULT AND ANALYSIS: Example:

CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK: Example 1: The developed system can extract both maternal and fetal heart rates in real-time: Utilizing a single-lead configuration.

With higher detection accuracy.

This system is a practical alternative to ultrasound in long-term

monitoring.

Example 2:

2018

Activities Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Literature Review

Algorithm Development

Design and Development of

Microcontroller based Circuit

Evaluation and Testing of

Prototype

Completion of Project and

Report Writing

REFERENCE: Ibrahimy, M. I. (2018). Research methodology: FYP point of view. Kuala Lumpur: KoE-IIUM.

Thank You