Abstract: A pneumatic tocodynamometer (“pTOCO”) (10) having a guard-ring (13) with a thin elastic membrane (18) stretched across a shallow spherical depression (12) trapping a small volume of air in the center of the guard-ring (13). A pressure transducer (17) may be molded into the body 11 of the pTOCO (10). In an alternative embodiment, the air volume beneath the membrane (18) of the pTOCO (10) may be connected via a low volume air conduit (14, 15) to a separate pressure transducer (16).

Abstract: The present invention is directed to satisfying the need to measure and monitor uterine activity non-invasively and accurately. Using superconducting quantum interference device sensors, we have established the feasibility of recording uterine contractile activity with high enough spatial-temporal resolution to determine the regions of localized activation and propagation over the uterus. With the large surface area and the shape of the array, spatial-temporal recordings of uterine activity were obtained using 151 sensors yielding a better insight into the mechanism of uterine contraction. By obtaining a contour plot of the magnetic field distribution, we were able to localize the areas of activation over the uterus during a contraction.