Approximately 29% of women deliver via cesarean 1, the majority of which are performed for labor arrest 2. Two essential challenges in obstetrics worldwide are arrest of labor and preterm birth. We thus show that the human EMMI system can provide detailed 3D images and quantification of uterine contractions as well as novel insights into the role of human uterine maturation during labor progression. Quantitative indices, including the uterine activation curve, are developed and defined to characterize uterine surface contraction patterns.

We demonstrate the successful integration of the human EMMI system during subjects’ clinical visits to generate noninvasively the uterine surface electrical potential maps, electrograms, and activation sequence through an inverse solution using up to 192 electrodes distributed around the abdomen surface.

Herein we describe the development and application of a human EMMI system to image and evaluate 3D uterine electrical activation patterns at high spatial and temporal resolution during human term labor.

Electromyometrial imaging (EMMI) was recently developed to image the three-dimensional (3D) uterine electrical activation during contractions noninvasively and accurately in sheep.

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