Influence of maternal and fetal factors on fetal magnetocardiography measurements using optically pumped magnetometers
Authors' conclusion
Fetal heart distance and GA are the primary determinants of OPM-fMCG signal quality. Accounting for maternal physiological variability is essential for optimizing acquisition protocols and improving the interpretability of fetal cardiac data.
Study context
- Population
- Pregnant participants (28–38 weeks of gestation) undergoing OPM-based fetal magnetocardiographypregnant participants, 107 OPM recordings
- Participants
- 32 participants
- Exposure
- Associations of maternal and fetal parameters (placental position, body mass index, fetal heart distance, and gestational age [GA]) with signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and cardiac time-interval (CTI) detectability
- Outcome
- SNR
Methodological detailsbed-based, stand-alone OPM array system
- Bed-based, stand-alone OPM array system
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Mean SNR
10.95 dB
Variance
14.56 dB2
Total variance after multivariable mixed-effects linear regression
12.55 dB2
Fixed-effects R2
19.8%
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Predictors of SNR
- SNR increased significantly with GA and decreased with fetal heart distance
CTI detectability
- Higher SNR was associated with improved CTI detectability, particularly for T wave and QT interval
- GA remained a significant predictor of T-wave detectability, whereas fetal heart distance exerted an independent negative effect
Original publication
Influence of maternal and fetal factors on fetal magnetocardiography measurements using optically pumped magnetometers. Heart Rhythm. Published 19 June 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →