Fetal and Neonatal Magnetophysiology

Plain-language summary

Fetal research and clinical practice has been hampered by a lack of suitable investigational techniques. Currently, ultrasound is the only widely used method of studying fetal anatomy and physiology, but it has significant limitations for assessment of cardiac rhythm. The proposed study will allow us to investigate fetal magnetocardiography (fMCG) as a new tool for the study of normal and abnormal fetal heart rate and rhythm, with a goal of demonstrating probable benefit from use of the device in patients with serious fetal arrhythmia. We propose a study that will last 1-2 years and will provide data to aid in assessing the safety and effectiveness of fMCG for diagnosis and management of patients with abnormal fetal heart rate and rhythm. We hope that the data from the study will support a Humanitarian Device Exemption (HDE) application for the subject device. The safety and efficacy study designs are described below. High-risk subjects will undergo echocardiography as part of their routine clinical management, and our results will be compared to the echocardiography results, as well as with postnatal ECG, when available. (Since many arrhythmias resolve prior to birth, either due to resolution of disease or due to treatment, only a limited number of diseases allow postnatal comparison). For rhythms that persist after birth, the diagnostic utility of fMCG and echocardiography will be assessed by computing the sensitivity (Sn) and specificity (Sp) relative to postnatal ECG for the following prenatal modalities: (i) the fMCG, (ii) the original (referral) echo, (iii) if available, the in-lab echocardiogram at the time of the fMCG study. Secondary endpoints will assess changes in diagnosis and in clinical management due to the additional information provided by fMCG, compared to the information provided by echocardiography alone.

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