Introduction

Monica Healthcare is developing a series of innovative wearable devices that will use wireless technologies to facilitate globally accessible obstetric services in the home and hospital.

Monica Healthcare Ltd was formed in May 2005. This followed a successful £500K seed fund raising exercise and was the culmination of 15 years of research at the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and the School of Human Development at The University of Nottingham, UK. The lead investors are Catapult Venture Managers and Lachesis. An additional £1million second round funding was raised in May 2007.

The patented technology is based on the acquisition of electro-physiological signals that can be passively detected by electrodes positioned on the maternal abdomen. From these signals a number of a parameters including fetal position, fetal heart rate, maternal heart rate, uterine activity, gross fetal movements and parameters describing Fetal ECG morphology can be extracted, in real time, and over an extended period of the time.