Early-detection of pre-eclampsia: Concept and design of a portable prototype

Abstract Pre-eclampsia is one of the most common causes of maternal and perinatal death worldwide. It is a hypertensive pregnancy disease with reduced perfusion of numerous organs. The main symptoms of the disease include elevated blood pressure, proteinuria and the associated subcutaneous fluid retention in the fingers, hands and face of the pregnant woman. In this paper a concept of a portable prototype for early-detection of preeclampsia is presented. The assembled sensor systems enable portable monitoring of the main symptoms to detect changes at an early stage. The sensor system for determining blood pressure is based on photoplethysmography. The sensor system for detecting subcutaneous fluid retention uses the absorption bands of the fluid when illuminated with near-infrared light. For the validation experiments, finger models made of silicone with different fluid retention levels were produced. The results show a correlation between the measured transmitted light intensity and the fluid retention. The results represent a possibility for the portable measurement of important vital parameters in connection with preeclampsia.