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Marta Martins Filipe, 28/05/2026 19:13
| 1 | 3 | Marta Martins Filipe | h1. _Obstech - Tele-CTG_: Conceção e prototipagem dum serviço de telemedicina em obstetrícia |
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| 2 | 3 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 3 | 23 | Marta Martins Filipe | Unidade Curricular de +Telemedicina e e-Saúde+ |
| 4 | 23 | Marta Martins Filipe | Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto |
| 5 | 21 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 6 | 21 | Marta Martins Filipe | *Nome dos autores*: |
| 7 | 21 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 8 | 24 | Marta Martins Filipe | Inês Vasconcelos - up202314982 |
| 9 | 24 | Marta Martins Filipe | Maria Videira - up202510611 |
| 10 | 21 | Marta Martins Filipe | Marta Filipe - up20250464 |
| 11 | 21 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 12 | 10 | Marta Martins Filipe | h2. *0. Abstract* |
| 13 | 4 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 14 | 60 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The _Obstech – Tele-CTG_ project aims to conceive and prototype an innovative telemedicine service in the field of obstetrics, focused on remote cardiotocography (CTG) monitoring during pregnancy. Cardiotocography is an essential clinical exam that simultaneously records fetal heart rate and uterine activity, traditionally performed in hospital settings.> |
| 15 | 6 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 16 | 60 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. This project proposes a hybrid model composed of a portable signal acquisition device and an integrated digital platform with two distinct interfaces: one designed for the pregnant woman (patient-facing) and another for healthcare professionals (clinical-facing). The approach is centered on user interviews and functional mockup development to validate the system's utility and feasibility. |
| 17 | 7 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 18 | 60 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The solution addresses a clear gap in the current market, where existing solutions are either highly reliable but hospital-bound, or accessible but lacking clinical integration and intelligent data analysis. Obstech bridges these two extremes by combining clinical-grade CTG monitoring with a patient-centered digital experience. |
| 19 | 2 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 20 | 8 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 21 | 10 | Marta Martins Filipe | *Keywords:* Telemedicine, Obstetrics, Cardiotocography, Remote Monitoring, eHealth, Prototyping |
| 22 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 23 | 10 | Marta Martins Filipe | h2. *1. Introduction* |
| 24 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 25 | 10 | Marta Martins Filipe | h3. *1.1 What is _Obstech – Tele-CTG_?* |
| 26 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 27 | 61 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. _Obstech – Tele-CTG_ is a telemedicine service designed for remote fetal monitoring through cardiotocography (CTG) in home environments. It consists of a portable or wearable device that captures fetal heart rate and uterine activity signals, combined with a digital platform that transmits and displays this data securely to healthcare providers. |
| 28 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 29 | 61 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The system operates on a hybrid model: the pregnant woman uses the device at home while her clinical data is continuously available to her medical team through a dedicated professional interface. This eliminates the need for frequent hospital visits while maintaining the clinical quality and continuity of fetal monitoring. |
| 30 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 31 | 61 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. Rather than being only a device or only a mobile application, Obstech is conceived as an integrated telemedicine service that connects home-based fetal monitoring with clinical follow-up, combining signal acquisition, patient engagement and professional decision support. |
| 32 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 33 | 10 | Marta Martins Filipe | h3. *1.2 The Concept of Remote CTG Monitoring* |
| 34 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 35 | 62 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. Cardiotocography CTG is the simultaneous recording of the fetal heart rate (FHR) and uterine contractions. It is a standard clinical tool used to assess fetal well-being during pregnancy and labor. In its traditional form, CTG requires the pregnant woman to visit a hospital or clinic, where sensors are placed on the abdomen and connected to a monitor. |
| 36 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 37 | 62 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. Remote CTG monitoring refers to the use of portable or wearable sensors to perform CTG outside the clinical setting, typically at home, with data transmitted electronically to healthcare providers. This approach enables continuous or on-demand monitoring, reducing the burden on hospital services and improving access for patients in remote or underserved areas. |
| 38 | 10 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 39 | 62 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. In this context, remote CTG monitoring represents a relevant application of telemedicine, as it enables clinical data to be collected outside the hospital while remaining accessible to healthcare professionals. This supports a more continuous, accessible and patient-centered model of pregnancy follow-up. |
| 40 | 10 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 41 | 10 | Marta Martins Filipe | h3. *1.3 Project Motivation and Objectives* |
| 42 | 10 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 43 | 63 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The motivation for this project stems from the clear limitations of current CTG monitoring practice: |
| 44 | 10 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Frequent and inconvenient hospital visits for routine monitoring; |
| 45 | 10 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Episodic rather than continuous fetal surveillance; |
| 46 | 10 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Overloaded obstetrics departments; |
| 47 | 10 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Limited autonomy for the pregnant woman; |
| 48 | 10 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Poor access for patients in rural or geographically isolated areas. |
| 49 | 10 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 50 | 63 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. These limitations create the need for a hybrid solution capable of reducing unnecessary hospital visits while preserving clinical supervision and data quality. |
| 51 | 38 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 52 | 63 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The main objectives of _Obstech – Tele-CTG_ are: |
| 53 | 10 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Develop a remote CTG monitoring solution usable in a home environment; |
| 54 | 10 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Review the state of the art and identify gaps in existing solutions; |
| 55 | 10 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Contact relevant stakeholders (pregnant women, obstetricians, nurses) for requirements gathering; |
| 56 | 10 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Design functional mockups of both the patient and clinical interfaces; |
| 57 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Validate the proposed system's utility, usability, and clinical viability. |
| 58 | 11 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 59 | 11 | Marta Martins Filipe | h2. *2. Market Assessment Study* |
| 60 | 11 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 61 | 11 | Marta Martins Filipe | h3. *2.1 Review of Existing Solutions* |
| 62 | 11 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 63 | 64 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. A review of existing fetal and maternal monitoring solutions was conducted in order to understand the current technological landscape and identify opportunities for differentiation. The analysed solutions included hospital-based CTG systems, portable fetal monitoring devices, wearable technologies and remote monitoring platforms. |
| 64 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 65 | 59 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The comparison was based on five criteria considered relevant for the Obstech concept: home use capability, full CTG measurement, clinical interface, patient interface and automatic data analysis. These criteria were selected because they represent the main dimensions required for a complete telemedicine solution in obstetrics: accessibility, clinical value, professional integration, patient-centered design and decision-support potential. |
| 66 | 39 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 67 | 91 | Marta Martins Filipe | _*Table 1.* Comparative analysis of existing solutions_ |
| 68 | 142 | Marta Martins Filipe | !state_of_the_Art.png! |
| 69 | 39 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 70 | 65 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The comparative analysis shows that existing solutions tend to be divided into two main groups. Hospital-centered systems, such as Avalon CL, Sonicaid Team3 and OBIX, provide strong clinical reliability and professional integration, but are mainly designed for use in clinical environments. In contrast, home-based or portable solutions, such as _HeraBEAT_, _PregnaBit Pro_, S_ense4Baby_, _iCTG_, _INVU_ and _PreTel Juno_, improve accessibility but often present limitations regarding full CTG acquisition, patient interface design, intelligent analysis or integration with clinical workflows. |
| 71 | 39 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 72 | 64 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. This analysis confirms that there is still space for a hybrid solution capable of combining home accessibility with clinical robustness and a meaningful patient-facing experience. |
| 73 | 16 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 74 | 16 | Marta Martins Filipe | h3. *2.2 Analysis of Available Apps* |
| 75 | 16 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 76 | 71 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. Beyond dedicated hardware systems, several mobile applications exist for pregnancy monitoring. These can be broadly grouped into three categories: |
| 77 | 70 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 78 | 70 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Consumer wellness apps (e.g., baby heartbeat apps): These use the smartphone microphone to detect fetal sounds. They lack clinical accuracy and are not validated for medical use. |
| 79 | 71 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Companion apps for medical devices: Applications paired with CTG devices (e.g., _HeraBEAT_ app, _PregnaBit_ app) that display data from dedicated sensors. These have better accuracy but typically offer limited clinical integration and a basic user experience. |
| 80 | 71 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Hospital platform apps: Web-based or mobile interfaces for clinical staff to access patient monitoring data remotely (e.g., _OBIX_, _Sonicaid_). These are clinically robust but are not designed for patient use. |
| 81 | 16 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 82 | 66 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. A key finding across all app categories is the consistent absence of a well-designed, patient-centered interface that makes clinical data meaningful and accessible to the pregnant woman without requiring medical expertise. |
| 83 | 17 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 84 | 113 | Marta Martins Filipe | h3. *2.2 Identified Gaps and Opportunities* |
| 85 | 17 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 86 | 17 | Marta Martins Filipe | The market analysis reveals a consistent pattern: existing solutions cluster at opposite ends of a spectrum. Clinical systems offer high reliability but require hospital attendance; home devices offer convenience but lack clinical depth and integration. |
| 87 | 17 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 88 | 18 | Marta Martins Filipe | The identified gaps that _Obstech_ aims to address are: |
| 89 | 17 | Marta Martins Filipe | * No solution combines full CTG monitoring (FHR + uterine activity) in the home setting with a strong clinical platform; |
| 90 | 17 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Patient-facing interfaces are universally underdeveloped — data is displayed without meaningful context for the pregnant woman; |
| 91 | 17 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Automatic analysis and intelligent alerting is either absent or limited in home-use solutions; |
| 92 | 17 | Marta Martins Filipe | * No solution offers a true hybrid model with continuous bidirectional communication between the patient and the clinical team; |
| 93 | 17 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Digital pregnancy records (a unified 'digital pregnancy booklet') are absent from all reviewed solutions. |
| 94 | 17 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 95 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | These gaps define the innovation space for Obstech and directly inform its differentiating features. |
| 96 | 18 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 97 | 18 | Marta Martins Filipe | h2. *3. Structure* |
| 98 | 18 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 99 | 18 | Marta Martins Filipe | h3. *3.1 Requirements Gathering* |
| 100 | 18 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 101 | 67 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. Requirements for the Obstech system were gathered through a combination of literature review, analysis of existing solutions, and direct contact with end users and healthcare professionals. The requirements gathering process followed an iterative approach, with initial requirements refined based on stakeholder feedback. |
| 102 | 18 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 103 | 67 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. Requirements were classified into functional requirements (what the system must do) and non-functional requirements (how the system must perform), and further divided by interface: patient-facing and clinician-facing. |
| 104 | 18 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 105 | 69 | Marta Martins Filipe | *Key functional requirements identified*: |
| 106 | 69 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Real-time transmission of CTG data (FHR + uterine activity) from home to clinical platform; |
| 107 | 69 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Patient interface: simplified CTG summaries, digital pregnancy booklet, gestational timeline, exam history; |
| 108 | 69 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Clinical interface: full CTG traces, structured patient history, report generation, multi-patient dashboard, alert system; |
| 109 | 69 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Secure and encrypted data storage and transmission (GDPR compliant); |
| 110 | 69 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Interoperability with existing hospital systems (HL7/FHIR standards). |
| 111 | 18 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 112 | 18 | Marta Martins Filipe | h3. *3.2 Interviews and Iterations* |
| 113 | 18 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 114 | 68 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. As Obstech is a user-centered telemedicine solution, stakeholder involvement was considered essential during the conception and prototyping phase. The main purpose of the interview process was to validate the relevance of the problem, identify practical needs from both patient and clinical perspectives, and refine the functional requirements of the proposed system. |
| 115 | 31 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 116 | 68 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. A qualitative exploratory approach was adopted, based on semi-structured interviews with two main stakeholder groups: pregnant women or recent mothers, representing the patient perspective, and healthcare professionals involved in pregnancy monitoring, representing the clinical perspective. This method was selected because it allows participants to freely describe their experiences, concerns and expectations, while still ensuring that key topics are addressed consistently across interviews. |
| 117 | 31 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 118 | 68 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The interviews focused on five main dimensions: current experience with CTG monitoring, perceived difficulties associated with hospital-based monitoring, willingness to use a remote CTG solution, expected functionalities in a patient-facing application, and clinical requirements for a professional monitoring platform. Questions were adapted according to the participant profile, with patients being asked mainly about usability, reassurance and communication, while healthcare professionals were asked about clinical workflow, signal reliability, alerts, data interpretation and patient safety. |
| 119 | 31 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 120 | 68 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. All quotes presented in this section are anonymized and translated into English where necessary, preserving the meaning of the original statements. The quotes are representative excerpts from the stakeholder feedback collected during the exploratory validation process. |
| 121 | 31 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 122 | 68 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. From the patient perspective, the feedback confirmed that CTG monitoring is generally perceived as clinically important, but also associated with inconvenience, anxiety and dependency on hospital availability. Participants valued the possibility of performing monitoring at home, particularly if the system remained connected to healthcare professionals and did not place the responsibility of clinical interpretation on the pregnant woman. A recurring concern was that medical data should be presented in a simple and reassuring way, avoiding technical terminology that could generate unnecessary anxiety. |
| 123 | 31 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 124 | 68 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. One participant described this need as follows: |
| 125 | 31 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 126 | 116 | Marta Martins Filipe | bq. “When I do an exam, I do not necessarily need to understand every medical detail. What I really want to know is whether everything seems normal and whether my doctor has access to the result.” — _Interview participant (pregnant woman, anonymized)_ |
| 127 | 31 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 128 | 68 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. Another participant emphasized the burden of repeated hospital visits: |
| 129 | 31 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 130 | 116 | Marta Martins Filipe | bq. “Near the end of pregnancy, going to the hospital several times can become tiring and stressful. If part of that monitoring could be done safely at home, it would make the process much easier.” - _Interview participant (pregnant woman, anonymized)_ |
| 131 | 31 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 132 | 68 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. These findings directly influenced the design of the patient-facing application. As a result, the app was designed to prioritize a simple dashboard, plain-language CTG summaries, pregnancy progression, exam history, notifications and a digital pregnancy booklet. The patient interface deliberately avoids displaying complex raw clinical traces as the main element. Instead, it presents summarized and contextualized information, while ensuring that complete data remains available to the healthcare team. |
| 133 | 31 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 134 | 68 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. From the clinical perspective, healthcare professionals recognized the potential of remote CTG monitoring to improve accessibility and reduce unnecessary hospital visits, especially for pregnant women requiring regular follow-up or living far from healthcare facilities. However, they also stressed that remote monitoring should not compromise clinical rigor. The professional interface must therefore provide complete CTG traces, signal quality indicators, patient history, previous monitoring sessions and clear alert prioritization. |
| 135 | 31 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 136 | 68 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. One healthcare professional highlighted this distinction: |
| 137 | 31 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 138 | 116 | Marta Martins Filipe | bq. “For the patient, the information should be simple. For the clinician, it cannot be simplified too much. We need access to the complete CTG trace, the clinical context and the evolution over time.” |
| 139 | 31 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 140 | 68 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. Another important concern was related to signal quality and false alarms: |
| 141 | 31 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 142 | 116 | Marta Martins Filipe | bq. “In remote monitoring, signal quality is critical. Before generating an alert, the system must be able to distinguish between a real clinical concern and a poor-quality recording.” |
| 143 | 31 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 144 | 68 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. This feedback reinforced the need to include signal quality validation as a core system functionality. Consequently, the Obstech workflow was refined to include technical validation before clinical interpretation. Poor signal acquisition, incomplete transmission or device connection problems are treated as technical alerts, while abnormal fetal heart rate patterns or concerning uterine activity are treated as clinical alerts. |
| 145 | 31 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 146 | 68 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. Healthcare professionals also emphasized that automatic analysis should support, but never replace, clinical decision-making. Therefore, the system was positioned as a clinical decision-support tool rather than an autonomous diagnostic system. |
| 147 | 31 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 148 | 68 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. This was summarized by one professional as follows: |
| 149 | 31 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 150 | 116 | Marta Martins Filipe | bq. “The platform can help us prioritize cases and detect patterns faster, but the final interpretation must always remain with the healthcare professional.” |
| 151 | 31 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 152 | 68 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The interviews also contributed to the refinement of the clinical platform. Initially, the concept was mainly focused on CTG visualization and report generation. After the feedback, additional features were reinforced, including multi-patient monitoring, structured patient history, alert categorization, clinical notes, patient contact and trend analysis across multiple CTG sessions. These elements were considered important to integrate the solution into a realistic clinical workflow. |
| 153 | 31 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 154 | 68 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The concept of the digital pregnancy booklet was also validated during the interviews. Patients considered it useful to have pregnancy-related information centralized in a single place, including CTG summaries, appointments, clinical notes and pregnancy evolution. This feature was therefore maintained as one of the differentiating elements of Obstech, since many existing solutions focus mainly on monitoring data and do not provide a complete patient-centered pregnancy record. |
| 155 | 31 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 156 | 68 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. Based on the interview feedback, the mockups were iteratively refined. The main changes included simplifying the language used in the patient app, improving the visibility of the latest CTG result, adding clearer navigation to the pregnancy booklet, reinforcing notifications and messages, and expanding the clinical dashboard to include alert status, patient history and monitoring trends. These iterations helped align the prototype with the expectations of both end users and healthcare professionals. |
| 157 | 31 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 158 | 68 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The main requirements refined through the interview process were: |
| 159 | 31 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 160 | 72 | Marta Martins Filipe | * The patient interface must present information in simple, reassuring and non-technical language; |
| 161 | 72 | Marta Martins Filipe | * The clinical platform must provide access to complete CTG traces and detailed patient history; |
| 162 | 72 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Signal quality must be validated before data interpretation; |
| 163 | 72 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Alerts must be separated into technical alerts and clinical alerts; |
| 164 | 72 | Marta Martins Filipe | * The system must support secure communication between the pregnant woman and the healthcare team; |
| 165 | 72 | Marta Martins Filipe | * The digital pregnancy booklet should centralize pregnancy evolution, exams and relevant clinical information; |
| 166 | 72 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Automatic analysis should support clinical prioritization without replacing professional judgment; |
| 167 | 72 | Marta Martins Filipe | * The solution must be intuitive enough for home use while maintaining clinical reliability. |
| 168 | 31 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 169 | 68 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. Overall, the interview process confirmed the relevance of the Obstech value proposition. The findings showed that the proposed solution addresses not only a logistical problem, related to hospital visits and access to monitoring, but also an emotional and informational need, related to reassurance, autonomy and continuity of care during pregnancy. At the same time, the clinical feedback reinforced the importance of maintaining data quality, professional oversight and integration into healthcare workflows. |
| 170 | 31 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 171 | 68 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. Therefore, the interviews validated the hybrid positioning of Obstech: a remote CTG monitoring solution that combines home-based accessibility, a patient-centered mobile application and a clinically robust platform for healthcare professionals. |
| 172 | 31 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 173 | 18 | Marta Martins Filipe | h3. *3.3 Final Features and Specifications* |
| 174 | 18 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 175 | 73 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. Based on the requirements gathering process and interview iterations, the final feature set for the Obstech prototype is defined as follows: |
| 176 | 18 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 177 | 73 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. *Patient Interface (App)*: |
| 178 | 26 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Digital pregnancy booklet — unified view of all pregnancy information; |
| 179 | 18 | Marta Martins Filipe | * CTG session results displayed in plain language with visual summaries; |
| 180 | 18 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Gestational timeline showing week-by-week pregnancy progression; |
| 181 | 18 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Exam history and results archive; |
| 182 | 18 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Push notifications for alerts or messages from the clinical team; |
| 183 | 18 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Secure in-app messaging with the healthcare provider. |
| 184 | 18 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 185 | 73 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. *Clinical Interface (Web Platform)*: |
| 186 | 18 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Multi-patient dashboard with real-time monitoring status; |
| 187 | 18 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Full CTG trace visualization (cardiotocogram viewer); |
| 188 | 18 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Structured clinical history per patient; |
| 189 | 18 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Automated report generation (exportable PDF); |
| 190 | 18 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Alert system for values outside clinical thresholds; |
| 191 | 18 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Trend analysis and comparison of CTG sessions over time; |
| 192 | 18 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Clinical decision support (pattern flagging, risk indicators). |
| 193 | 18 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 194 | 18 | Marta Martins Filipe | h3. *3.4 Use Cases* |
| 195 | 18 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 196 | 102 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. This section presents the use cases identified for the Obstech – Tele-CTG system. The use case diagram illustrates the interactions between the different system actors and the functionalities provided by the platform, offering a clear and structured view of the project’s functional requirements. |
| 197 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 198 | 102 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. The use case model was developed to represent the main interactions required for a remote CTG monitoring workflow, from signal acquisition at home to clinical review by healthcare professionals. It also includes supporting system functions, such as signal quality validation, data transmission validation, technical alerts and user management. |
| 199 | 102 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 200 | 34 | Marta Martins Filipe | h4. *3.4.1 System Actors* |
| 201 | 30 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 202 | 74 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The following actors were identified: |
| 203 | 34 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 204 | 34 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Pregnant Woman — primary user of the mobile interface, who performs CTG monitoring at home, consults results and communicates with the clinical team. |
| 205 | 34 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Healthcare Professional — physician or nurse who monitors patients, analyses monitoring data, generates clinical reports, and manages notes and alerts. |
| 206 | 34 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Wearable Device — non-human actor responsible for acquiring CTG signals and transmitting them to the platform. |
| 207 | 34 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Obstech System / Platform — non-human actor that processes, validates and stores received data, and generates automatic alerts. |
| 208 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Administrator — responsible for user management, permissions, and integration with external hospital systems. |
| 209 | 102 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 210 | 102 | Inês Vasconcelos | The inclusion of both human and non-human actors reflects the hybrid nature of the Obstech solution. The system is not limited to the interaction between patient and clinician; it also depends on device communication, data processing, platform validation and administrative management. |
| 211 | 34 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 212 | 34 | Marta Martins Filipe | h4. *3.4.2 Use Case Diagram* |
| 213 | 34 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 214 | 107 | Marta Martins Filipe | !Use_Cases.png! |
| 215 | 89 | Marta Martins Filipe | _*Figure 1.* Use case diagram of the Obstech – Tele-CTG system_ |
| 216 | 34 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 217 | 34 | Marta Martins Filipe | h4. *3.4.3 Detailed Use Case Descriptions* |
| 218 | 34 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 219 | 75 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The following tables describe each identified use case in detail, including the primary actor, pre-conditions, main flow of events, alternative flows, and post-conditions. |
| 220 | 34 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 221 | 34 | Marta Martins Filipe | *UC01 - Log In* |
| 222 | 34 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 223 | 93 | Marta Martins Filipe | _Table UC01 - Log In_ |
| 224 | 145 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 225 | 144 | Marta Martins Filipe | !UC01.png! |
| 226 | 34 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 227 | 35 | Marta Martins Filipe | *UC02 - Perform CTG Monitoring* |
| 228 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 229 | 145 | Marta Martins Filipe | _Table UC02 - Perfom CTG Monitoring_ |
| 230 | 145 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 231 | 35 | Marta Martins Filipe | !UC02.png! |
| 232 | 34 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 233 | 41 | Marta Martins Filipe | *UC03 - View CTG Exam Summary* |
| 234 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 235 | 45 | Marta Martins Filipe | _Table UC03 - View CTG Exam Summary_ |
| 236 | 146 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 237 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | !UC03.png! |
| 238 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 239 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | *UC04 - View Monitoring History* |
| 240 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 241 | 45 | Marta Martins Filipe | _Table UC04 - View Monitoring History_ |
| 242 | 147 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 243 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | !UC04.png! |
| 244 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 245 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | *UC05 - Track Pregnancy Progress* |
| 246 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 247 | 45 | Marta Martins Filipe | _Table UC05 - Track Pregnancy Progress_ |
| 248 | 148 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 249 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | !UC05.png! |
| 250 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 251 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | *UC06 - Consult Digital Pregnancy Booklet* |
| 252 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 253 | 45 | Marta Martins Filipe | _Table UC06 - Consult Digital Pregnancy Booklet_ |
| 254 | 149 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 255 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | !UC06.png! |
| 256 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 257 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | *UC07 – Receive Notifications* |
| 258 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 259 | 45 | Marta Martins Filipe | _Table UC07 - Receive Notifications_ |
| 260 | 150 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 261 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | !UC07.png! |
| 262 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 263 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | *UC08 – Consult Full CTG Records* |
| 264 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 265 | 45 | Marta Martins Filipe | _Table UC08 - Consult Full CTG Records_ |
| 266 | 151 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 267 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | !UC08.png! |
| 268 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 269 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | *UC09 – Consult Patient Clinical History* |
| 270 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 271 | 45 | Marta Martins Filipe | _Table UC09 - Consult Patient Clinical History_ |
| 272 | 152 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 273 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | !UC09.png! |
| 274 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 275 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | *UC10 – Analyse Monitoring Data* |
| 276 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 277 | 45 | Marta Martins Filipe | _Table UC10 - Analyse Monitoring Data_ |
| 278 | 153 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 279 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | !UC10.png! |
| 280 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 281 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | *UC11 – Generate Clinical Report* |
| 282 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 283 | 45 | Marta Martins Filipe | _Table UC11 - Generate Clinical Report_ |
| 284 | 154 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 285 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | !UC11.png! |
| 286 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 287 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | *UC12 – Manage Clinical Notes* |
| 288 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 289 | 45 | Marta Martins Filipe | _Table UC12 - Manage Clinical Notes_ |
| 290 | 155 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 291 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | !UC12.png! |
| 292 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 293 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | *UC13 – Contact Patient* |
| 294 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 295 | 45 | Marta Martins Filipe | _Table UC13 - Contact Patient_ |
| 296 | 160 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 297 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | !UC13.png! |
| 298 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 299 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | *UC14 – Manage Profile and Settings* |
| 300 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 301 | 45 | Marta Martins Filipe | _Table UC14 - Manage Profile and Settings_ |
| 302 | 161 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 303 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | !UC14.png! |
| 304 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 305 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | *UC15 – Consult Help and Support* |
| 306 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 307 | 45 | Marta Martins Filipe | _Table UC15 - Consult Help and Support_ |
| 308 | 162 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 309 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | !UC15.png! |
| 310 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 311 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | *UC16 – Acquire and Transmit CTG Signals (Device)* |
| 312 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 313 | 45 | Marta Martins Filipe | _Table UC16 - Acquire and Transmit CTG Signals (Device)_ |
| 314 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | !UC16.png! |
| 315 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 316 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | *UC17 – Manage Users (Administrator)* |
| 317 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 318 | 45 | Marta Martins Filipe | _Table UC17 - Manage Users (Administrator)_ |
| 319 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | !UC17.png! |
| 320 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 321 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | h3. *3.5 Activity Diagrams* |
| 322 | 42 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 323 | 105 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. This section presents the activity diagrams developed for the main workflows of the Obstech – Tele-CTG system. While the use case diagram identifies the actors and functionalities of the platform, the activity diagrams describe the sequence of actions involved in the most relevant operational processes. |
| 324 | 103 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 325 | 105 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. The selected workflows focus on the core interactions of the proposed telemedicine service, namely remote CTG monitoring performed by the pregnant woman, clinical review by healthcare professionals, system validation of signal quality and data transmission, patient consultation of CTG summaries and pregnancy information, and administrative management of users and permissions. |
| 326 | 103 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 327 | 105 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. These diagrams provide a dynamic view of the system and help clarify how the different actors and components of the Obstech platform interact throughout the remote monitoring process. They also reinforce the hybrid nature of the solution, which combines patient-side monitoring, automated platform functions and professional clinical follow-up. |
| 328 | 103 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 329 | 106 | Inês Vasconcelos | !diagrama_atividade1.png! |
| 330 | 106 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 331 | 106 | Inês Vasconcelos | *Figure +X+* - Activity diagram of the remote CTG monitoring workflow performed by the pregnant woman at home. |
| 332 | 106 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 333 | 106 | Inês Vasconcelos | !diagrama_atividade2.png! |
| 334 | 106 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 335 | 106 | Inês Vasconcelos | *Figure +X+* - Activity diagram of the healthcare professional workflow for reviewing CTG data and generating a clinical report. |
| 336 | 106 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 337 | 106 | Inês Vasconcelos | !diagrama_atividade3.png! |
| 338 | 106 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 339 | 106 | Inês Vasconcelos | *Figure +X+* - Activity diagram of the automatic system workflow for signal quality validation, data transmission validation and technical alert generation. |
| 340 | 106 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 341 | 106 | Inês Vasconcelos | !diagrama_atividade4.png! |
| 342 | 106 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 343 | 106 | Inês Vasconcelos | *Figure +X+* - Activity diagram of the patient workflow for consulting CTG summaries and the digital pregnancy booklet. |
| 344 | 106 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 345 | 106 | Inês Vasconcelos | !diagrama_atividade5.png! |
| 346 | 106 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 347 | 106 | Inês Vasconcelos | *Figure +X+* - Activity diagram of the administrator workflow for user management, permission control and platform operation. |
| 348 | 106 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 349 | 106 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 350 | 18 | Marta Martins Filipe | h2. *4. Design and Functionalities* |
| 351 | 18 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 352 | 18 | Marta Martins Filipe | h3. *4.1 Mockup Building* - *+CONFIRMAR COM FIGMA + COLOCAR FOTOS!!!+* |
| 353 | 18 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 354 | 118 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The mockups for Obstech – Tele-CTG were developed for two complementary interfaces: a patient-facing mobile application and a clinician-facing web platform. The design process followed a user-centred approach, with mockup iterations informed by the stakeholder interviews described in Section 3.2. Both interfaces share a consistent visual identity based on a lilac and rose-mauve colour palette, chosen to convey warmth, trust and care — values considered essential for a maternal health application. All interactive mockups are available via the links provided in Section 10. |
| 355 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 356 | 111 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. The main design principle was to create two different experiences for two different types of users. The mobile application was designed for pregnant women and therefore prioritizes simplicity, reassurance, accessibility and clear communication. In contrast, the clinical platform was designed for healthcare professionals and therefore prioritizes access to detailed clinical data, monitoring history, alerts and decision-support information. |
| 357 | 111 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 358 | 111 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. The mockups were developed as an interactive prototype in Figma, allowing the simulation of the main user flows of the system. This made it possible to demonstrate how a pregnant woman would interact with the app during remote CTG monitoring, and how healthcare professionals would access and analyse the corresponding clinical information through the platform. |
| 359 | 111 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 360 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. *Patient App — Key screens*: |
| 361 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 362 | 111 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. The patient-facing mobile application includes the following main screens: |
| 363 | 111 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 364 | 122 | Marta Martins Filipe | * *Login screen*: |
| 365 | 120 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 366 | 119 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The login screen presents the _Obstech_ brand in a welcoming and reassuring way. An onboarding flow of three screens introduces new users to the main features of the application (home monitoring, the digital pregnancy booklet and the notification system) before the first use. |
| 367 | 119 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 368 | 127 | Marta Martins Filipe | !Login.png! !Onboarding_1.png! !Onboarding_2.png! !Onboarding_3.png! |
| 369 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 370 | 127 | Marta Martins Filipe | * *Home screen / Dashboard*: |
| 371 | 127 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 372 | 127 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The home screen provides the pregnant woman with an immediate overview of her gestational week, the result of her most CTG session and the time of the next scheduled monitoring. The interface deliberately avoids clinical terminology, presenting information in plain language with colour-coded status indicators. |
| 373 | 127 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 374 | 127 | Marta Martins Filipe | !Homepage.png! |
| 375 | 127 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 376 | 128 | Marta Martins Filipe | * *CTG Monitoring*: |
| 377 | 128 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 378 | 128 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The active monitoring screen displays the elapsed monitoring time, real-time fetal heart rate in beats per minute, and a contraction level indicator. A visual representations of the CTG waveform is shown during the session. A clearly visible stop button allows the pregnant woman to end the session at any time. |
| 379 | 128 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 380 | 128 | Marta Martins Filipe | !Monitorização.png! |
| 381 | 128 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 382 | 128 | Marta Martins Filipe | * *Monitoring Summary*: |
| 383 | 128 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 384 | 128 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. After each session, a results screen presents a simplified summary of the monitoring outcome. The fetal heart rate, contraction level, duration and overall assessment are shwon in accessible language. If the clinical team has added a note, it is displayed here. If the session is still under clinical review, the status is clearly communicated to avoid unnecessary anxiety. |
| 385 | 128 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 386 | 128 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 387 | 129 | Marta Martins Filipe | !Monitorização_terminada.png! !Histórico_1.png! !histórico_2.png! |
| 388 | 128 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 389 | 130 | Marta Martins Filipe | * *History*: |
| 390 | 130 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 391 | 130 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The history screen lists all previous monitoring sessions ordered by date. Each entry shows the date, overall status and a chevron to access the full session detail, which includes the CTG waveform area, clinical metrics and the healthcare professional's note. |
| 392 | 130 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 393 | 130 | Marta Martins Filipe | !Histórico.png! |
| 394 | 130 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 395 | 131 | Marta Martins Filipe | * *Digital pregnancy booklet*: |
| 396 | 131 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 397 | 131 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The booklet section centralises all pregnancy-related information in a single place. Three tabs — Exams, Medical Notes and Documents — allow the pregnant woman to consult her exam history, read clinical notes from her healthcare team, and access or download clinical documents such as reports and prescriptions. |
| 398 | 131 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 399 | 131 | Marta Martins Filipe | !Boletim_digital.png! !exames.png! !Notas_médicas.png! !Documentos.png! |
| 400 | 131 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 401 | 132 | Marta Martins Filipe | * *Notifications*: |
| 402 | 132 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 403 | 132 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The notifications screen displays all system alerts and messages from the clinical team, including new CTG results, monitoring reminders and comments from the doctor. Unread notifications are highlighted with a lilac dot indicator. |
| 404 | 132 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 405 | 132 | Marta Martins Filipe | !Notificações.png! |
| 406 | 132 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 407 | 132 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 408 | 133 | Marta Martins Filipe | * *Profile, Settings, Help & Support*: |
| 409 | 132 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 410 | 132 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. In this screen, the pregnant woman can access the wearable CTG device paired, namely its connection status and battery level. The settings section provides control over notifications, language, preferences, and account security. Moreover, the personal information screen allows the pregnant woman to edit her profile data and view her assigned healthcare professional. The device screen shows the connection status and battery level of the wearable CTG device. |
| 411 | 132 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 412 | 133 | Marta Martins Filipe | !Mais.png! !Dispositivo.png! !Definições.png! !Perfil.png! !Editar_perfil.png! |
| 413 | 132 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 414 | 134 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The help section provides access to a frequently asked questions list, a live chat support channel, allowing the pregnant woman to resolve doubts or report problems without leaving the application. |
| 415 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 416 | 134 | Marta Martins Filipe | !Ajuda.png! !FAQs.png! !Fale_connosco.png! |
| 417 | 111 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 418 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The patient app was intentionally designed to avoid exposing the pregnant woman to complex CTG traces or technical clinical interpretation. Instead, it transforms monitoring data into simple, structured and reassuring information. This design choice reflects the need to support patient autonomy without transferring clinical responsibility to the user. |
| 419 | 111 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 420 | 131 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 421 | 111 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 422 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. *Clinical Platform — Key screens*: |
| 423 | 135 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 424 | 135 | Marta Martins Filipe | * *Login*: |
| 425 | 135 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 426 | 135 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The clinical platform login screen is designed for institutional use, with a professional aesthetic that reflects the clinical nature of the tool while maintaining consistency with the _Obstech_ visual identity. |
| 427 | 135 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 428 | 135 | Marta Martins Filipe | !login_m.png! |
| 429 | 135 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 430 | 136 | Marta Martins Filipe | * *General Dashboard*: |
| 431 | 136 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 432 | 136 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The clinical dashboard provides an at-a-glance overview of the healthcare professional's patient panel. Four metric cards display the total number of active patients, today's monitoring sessions, active alerts and generated reports. Two panels present the patients requiring immediate attention and a real-time monitoring view with CTG waveform and contraction data. |
| 433 | 136 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 434 | 136 | Marta Martins Filipe | !dashboard.png! |
| 435 | 136 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 436 | 136 | Marta Martins Filipe | * *Patient List*: |
| 437 | 136 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 438 | 136 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The patients screen lists all monitored patients with key information: age, gestational week, current status and time of last monitoring. Status badges (Normal, Under Analysis, Alert) allow rapid triage. The list supports filtering by status, gestational week and last monitoring date, as well as sorting by name or date. |
| 439 | 136 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 440 | 136 | Marta Martins Filipe | !pacientes.png! |
| 441 | 136 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 442 | 136 | Marta Martins Filipe | * *Patient Profile*: |
| 443 | 136 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 444 | 136 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The patient profile screen provides a complete view of a single patient's clinical record. Four tabs — Monitoring, Exams, Notes and Documents — structure the available information. The professional can view full CTG traces, consult exam history, create and manage clinical notes, and access or upload clinical documents. Action buttons allow the professional to generate a report or contact the patient directly. |
| 445 | 136 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 446 | 141 | Marta Martins Filipe | !exames_joana.png! !Notas_joana.png! !Editar_nota.png! !Nova_nota.png! !documentos_joana.png! |
| 447 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 448 | 137 | Marta Martins Filipe | * *Monitoring Detail*: |
| 449 | 137 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 450 | 137 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The monitoring detail screen presents the complete data from a single CTG session. The full CTG trace is displayed, accompanied by key clinical metrics (average FHR, duration, contraction level and overall assessment). The professional can classify the trace, add a clinical note and generate a session report from this screen. |
| 451 | 137 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 452 | 137 | Marta Martins Filipe | !Monitorização_joana.png! |
| 453 | 137 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 454 | 137 | Marta Martins Filipe | * *Alerts*: |
| 455 | 137 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 456 | 137 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The alerts panel lists all active clinical alerts with their severity level (Critical, High, Medium, Low), the associated patient, the time of the alert and its read status. For each alert, quick action buttons allow the professional to contact the patient or mark the alert as resolved. A detail view provides the clinical context and the CTG trace at the time of the alert. |
| 457 | 137 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 458 | 138 | Marta Martins Filipe | !Alertas.png! !alertas_críticos.png! !alerta_resolvido.png! |
| 459 | 137 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 460 | 139 | Marta Martins Filipe | * *Reports*: |
| 461 | 139 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 462 | 139 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The reports section allows the professional to view, download and share clinical reports. In the first tab, the healthcare professional has access to all reports, including those shared by other colleagues. In the second tab, only the reports generated by the professional itself are displayed. New reports can be generated through a modal window that allows the selection of the patient, the report type, and the time period, with a preview available before exporting. |
| 463 | 139 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 464 | 139 | Marta Martins Filipe | !Relatórios.png! !relatórios_m.png! !gerar_relatorio.png! |
| 465 | 139 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 466 | 140 | Marta Martins Filipe | * *Messages*: |
| 467 | 140 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 468 | 140 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The messages screen provides a secure bidirectional communication channel between the healthcare professional and each patient. The conversation list shows unread message counts. The chat interface supports text messages and displays the context of active alerts when relevant. |
| 469 | 140 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 470 | 140 | Marta Martins Filipe | !Mensagens.png! |
| 471 | 140 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 472 | 140 | Marta Martins Filipe | * *Settings*: |
| 473 | 140 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 474 | 140 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The settings screen is divided into four sections: Profile (editable personal and professional information), Preferences (notifications, language, time zone, theme), Security (password change, two-factor authentication) and Account (account information and logout). |
| 475 | 140 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 476 | 140 | Marta Martins Filipe | !Definições_m.png! |
| 477 | 111 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 478 | 111 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. The clinical platform was designed to support remote monitoring and clinical decision-making. Unlike the patient app, this interface provides more detailed information, as healthcare professionals require access to complete monitoring records, patient context and clinical evolution over time. The platform also supports prioritization, allowing professionals to identify patients who may require closer follow-up. |
| 479 | 111 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 480 | 111 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 481 | 111 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. Overall, the mockup demonstrates the dual nature of the Obstech solution. The patient app focuses on clarity and reassurance, while the clinical platform focuses on detailed analysis and professional follow-up. Together, both interfaces represent an integrated telemedicine service that connects the pregnant woman, the home environment and the healthcare system. |
| 482 | 111 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 483 | 82 | Marta Martins Filipe | h3. *4.2 Device Integration* |
| 484 | 80 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 485 | 80 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The Obstech system is based on the conceptual integration of a wearable CTG device with the mobile application and the clinical platform. The device is intended to allow the acquisition of fetal monitoring data in a home environment, while ensuring that the collected information can be securely transmitted to healthcare professionals. |
| 486 | 80 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 487 | 80 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The proposed device would be a wearable abdominal monitoring system capable of acquiring the two main signals required for cardiotocography: |
| 488 | 80 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 489 | 80 | Marta Martins Filipe | Fetal heart rate, obtained through a fetal monitoring sensor; |
| 490 | 80 | Marta Martins Filipe | Uterine activity, obtained through a contraction or tocodynamometry sensor. |
| 491 | 80 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 492 | 80 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The device would be used by the pregnant woman at home during a monitoring session. After correct placement, the device would connect to the mobile application, which would guide the user through the monitoring process. The app would indicate whether the device is connected, whether the signal quality is acceptable and whether the monitoring session is progressing correctly. |
| 493 | 80 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 494 | 80 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The expected device integration workflow is as follows: |
| 495 | 80 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 496 | 80 | Marta Martins Filipe | * The pregnant woman opens the Obstech mobile application; |
| 497 | 80 | Marta Martins Filipe | * The wearable CTG device is paired with the app; |
| 498 | 80 | Marta Martins Filipe | * The app verifies device connection and battery status; |
| 499 | 80 | Marta Martins Filipe | * The device starts acquiring fetal heart rate and uterine activity signals; |
| 500 | 80 | Marta Martins Filipe | * The system validates signal quality during the session; |
| 501 | 80 | Marta Martins Filipe | * The data is transmitted to the Obstech platform; |
| 502 | 80 | Marta Martins Filipe | * The healthcare professional accesses the monitoring record through the clinical platform; |
| 503 | 80 | Marta Martins Filipe | * If necessary, the system generates a technical or clinical alert. |
| 504 | 80 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 505 | 80 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. A key aspect of the device integration is signal quality validation. In remote monitoring, poor sensor placement, movement artifacts or connectivity issues may compromise the quality of the recorded data. For this reason, the system must be able to identify whether the signal is suitable for clinical review. If the signal is insufficient, the app should notify the pregnant woman and provide simple instructions, such as repositioning the device or repeating the monitoring session. |
| 506 | 80 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 507 | 80 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The communication between the device and the mobile application would preferably be performed through Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), due to its low power consumption and common use in wearable health devices. The mobile application would then transmit the data to the Obstech platform through an internet connection, such as Wi-Fi or mobile data. |
| 508 | 80 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 509 | 80 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The complete technical architecture of the device integration would include: |
| 510 | 80 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 511 | 80 | Marta Martins Filipe | * wearable CTG sensor device; |
| 512 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Bluetooth connection with the patient app; |
| 513 | 110 | Inês Vasconcelos | * mobile application for session control and data transmission; |
| 514 | 94 | Marta Martins Filipe | * cloud-based platform for data storage and processing; |
| 515 | 87 | Marta Martins Filipe | * clinical dashboard for healthcare professionals; |
| 516 | 51 | Inês Vasconcelos | * secure transmission and encrypted storage of maternal-fetal health data. |
| 517 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 518 | 77 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. Although the current project does not include the physical development of the wearable device, its integration was considered in the system design to ensure that the proposed workflow is realistic and technically plausible. Therefore, the prototype represents not only the visual interface, but also the expected interaction between device, patient app, system platform and healthcare professional. |
| 519 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 520 | 77 | Marta Martins Filipe | !workflow.png! |
| 521 | 51 | Inês Vasconcelos | *Figure +X+*. System architecture: wearable device -> mobile app -> Obstech platform -> healthcare professional |
| 522 | 77 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 523 | 51 | Inês Vasconcelos | h3. *4.3 Data Consent* |
| 524 | 51 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 525 | 51 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. Data consent is a critical component of the Obstech system, since the solution involves the collection, transmission and storage of sensitive maternal and fetal health data. For this reason, privacy, security and informed consent were considered essential requirements from the design stage. |
| 526 | 51 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 527 | 51 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. Before using the system, the pregnant woman must be clearly informed about what data is collected, why it is collected, who can access it and how it will be used. The consent process should be integrated into the patient application in a simple and transparent way, ensuring that the user understands the purpose of remote CTG monitoring and the role of the healthcare team. |
| 528 | 51 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 529 | 51 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. The data collected by Obstech may include: |
| 530 | 51 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 531 | 51 | Inês Vasconcelos | * personal identification data; |
| 532 | 51 | Inês Vasconcelos | * pregnancy-related information; |
| 533 | 51 | Inês Vasconcelos | * CTG monitoring records; |
| 534 | 77 | Marta Martins Filipe | * fetal heart rate data; |
| 535 | 51 | Inês Vasconcelos | * uterine activity data; |
| 536 | 77 | Marta Martins Filipe | * monitoring history; |
| 537 | 51 | Inês Vasconcelos | * clinical notes and reports; |
| 538 | 51 | Inês Vasconcelos | * communication between the patient and healthcare professionals; |
| 539 | 51 | Inês Vasconcelos | * technical information related to device connection and signal quality. |
| 540 | 51 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 541 | 51 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. The system should follow the principle of data minimization, meaning that only the information necessary for remote monitoring and clinical follow-up should be collected. Additionally, access to the data should be limited according to the role of each user. For example, pregnant women should access their own information and simplified monitoring summaries, while healthcare professionals should access detailed clinical data only for patients under their care. |
| 542 | 51 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 543 | 51 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. The main data protection requirements considered for Obstech are: |
| 544 | 51 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 545 | 51 | Inês Vasconcelos | * explicit informed consent before data collection; |
| 546 | 51 | Inês Vasconcelos | * clear explanation of the purpose of data use; |
| 547 | 51 | Inês Vasconcelos | * possibility for the patient to review consent information; |
| 548 | 51 | Inês Vasconcelos | * secure authentication for both patients and professionals; |
| 549 | 77 | Marta Martins Filipe | * encrypted data transmission between the app, platform and clinical interface; |
| 550 | 51 | Inês Vasconcelos | * encrypted storage of sensitive health data; |
| 551 | 77 | Marta Martins Filipe | * role-based access control; |
| 552 | 51 | Inês Vasconcelos | * audit logs to record access to clinical information; |
| 553 | 77 | Marta Martins Filipe | * possibility of correcting or deleting data according to applicable regulations; |
| 554 | 19 | Marta Martins Filipe | * compliance with GDPR principles. |
| 555 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 556 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. In the patient app, the consent process should be presented in plain language. Instead of using only legal or technical terminology, the application should explain the process in a clear and understandable way. For example, the user should be informed that CTG data will be shared with authorized healthcare professionals to support remote pregnancy monitoring. |
| 557 | 78 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 558 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. In the clinical platform, data consent is reflected through access control and professional responsibility. Healthcare professionals should only access the records of patients assigned to them, and all access should be traceable. This helps protect patient privacy and reinforces accountability in the use of sensitive health information. |
| 559 | 78 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 560 | 50 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. Data consent is therefore not treated as a separate administrative form, but as an integral part of the Obstech service. By incorporating consent, security and privacy into the design of the system, Obstech aims to ensure that remote monitoring is not only clinically useful, but also ethically responsible and trustworthy for users. |
| 561 | 78 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 562 | 50 | Inês Vasconcelos | h2. *5. Implementation* |
| 563 | 78 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 564 | 50 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. The implementation of Obstech – Tele-CTG focused on the development of a functional and interactive prototype capable of demonstrating the main user flows of the proposed telemedicine service. Since the scope of the project is centered on the conception and prototyping of a remote obstetric monitoring solution, the implementation prioritized interface design, system logic, interaction between users and the representation of the monitoring workflow. |
| 565 | 78 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 566 | 50 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. The prototype was developed through an interactive Figma mockup, including two main components: a mobile application for the pregnant woman and a web-based clinical platform for healthcare professionals. These two interfaces were designed to represent the dual nature of the Obstech system: a simple, reassuring and accessible experience for the patient, and a more complete, clinically oriented environment for professionals. |
| 567 | 78 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 568 | 50 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. The patient-facing application includes the main screens required for home-based CTG monitoring. These include login, home dashboard, CTG exam summary, monitoring history, pregnancy evolution, digital pregnancy booklet, notifications, profile, settings and support. The purpose of this interface is to allow the pregnant woman to interact with the system in a simple and intuitive way, without requiring medical expertise. For this reason, clinical information is translated into plain-language summaries and visual indicators, while complete CTG data remains available to the healthcare team. |
| 569 | 78 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 570 | 50 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. The clinical platform was designed to support remote follow-up and clinical decision-making. It includes a professional dashboard, patient list, patient profile, monitoring records, clinical alerts, reports, messages and settings. This interface allows healthcare professionals to access structured patient information, review CTG monitoring sessions, identify relevant alerts, generate reports and maintain communication with the pregnant woman. |
| 571 | 50 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 572 | 50 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. From a system perspective, the prototype represents the expected workflow of a complete remote CTG monitoring session. The pregnant woman performs the monitoring at home using a wearable CTG device. The device acquires fetal heart rate and uterine activity signals and transmits them to the mobile application. The data is then sent securely to the Obstech platform, where signal quality and transmission status are validated before being made available to the healthcare professional. |
| 573 | 50 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 574 | 50 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. Although the current prototype does not include a fully functional backend or real biomedical signal acquisition, it simulates the main interactions required for the system to operate. These include CTG session visualization, monitoring history, alert representation, patient information management and report access. This approach is appropriate for the current stage of the project, as it allows the validation of the service concept, user experience and functional structure before technical development and clinical testing. |
| 575 | 50 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 576 | 50 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. The planned technical architecture of the complete Obstech system would include: |
| 577 | 50 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 578 | 50 | Inês Vasconcelos | * a wearable CTG device for fetal heart rate and uterine activity acquisition; |
| 579 | 79 | Marta Martins Filipe | * Bluetooth Low Energy communication between the device and the patient’s smartphone; |
| 580 | 19 | Marta Martins Filipe | * a mobile application for session control, patient interaction and data transmission; |
| 581 | 19 | Marta Martins Filipe | * a cloud-based backend for secure storage, processing and synchronization of monitoring data; |
| 582 | 19 | Marta Martins Filipe | * a clinical web platform for healthcare professionals; |
| 583 | 95 | Marta Martins Filipe | * encrypted data transmission and storage; |
| 584 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | * future integration with hospital information systems using healthcare interoperability standards such as HL7/FHIR. |
| 585 | 95 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 586 | 49 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. The prototype therefore demonstrates the core value of the Obstech solution: connecting the pregnant woman, the home environment and the healthcare team through an integrated telemedicine workflow. Instead of being limited to a static visual mockup, the implementation represents the main functional interactions of the proposed service and supports the evaluation of usability, feasibility and clinical relevance. |
| 587 | 95 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 588 | 49 | Inês Vasconcelos | h2. *6. Project Management* |
| 589 | 97 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 590 | 96 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. Project management for Obstech – Tele-CTG was conducted using Redmine, the project management platform designated for the course. Redmine was used to organize the development process, distribute tasks among team members, monitor progress and document the main stages of the project. |
| 591 | 96 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 592 | 96 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The work was structured into milestones corresponding to the main phases of the project. This allowed the team to follow a progressive and organized development process, from the initial research phase to the final report and presentation. |
| 593 | 96 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 594 | 96 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The main project milestones were: |
| 595 | 96 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 596 | 49 | Inês Vasconcelos | * *Milestone 1* – State of the Art Review: identification and analysis of existing fetal monitoring solutions, including hospital-based CTG systems, home monitoring devices and digital platforms; |
| 597 | 95 | Marta Martins Filipe | * *Milestone 2* – Market Assessment: comparison of existing solutions, identification of gaps and definition of the opportunity for Obstech; |
| 598 | 49 | Inês Vasconcelos | * *Milestone 3* – Requirements and Use Cases: definition of functional requirements, non-functional requirements and UML use case diagrams; |
| 599 | 95 | Marta Martins Filipe | * *Milestone 4* – Stakeholder Interviews: preparation, execution and analysis of interviews with pregnant women/recent mothers and healthcare professionals; |
| 600 | 49 | Inês Vasconcelos | * *Milestone 5* – Mockup Design: development of the patient-facing mobile application and the clinical platform; |
| 601 | 95 | Marta Martins Filipe | * *Milestone 6* – Prototype Interaction: creation of interactive flows in Figma to simulate the main user journeys; |
| 602 | 49 | Inês Vasconcelos | * *Milestone 7* – Report and Presentation: preparation of the final written report, teaser, presentation structure and oral presentation materials. |
| 603 | 95 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 604 | 19 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. Tasks were divided according to the main project components: research and benchmarking, market assessment, requirements definition, use case modeling, mockup design, implementation of interactive flows, report writing and presentation preparation. This distribution allowed each team member to contribute to specific parts of the project while maintaining coordination across the overall system concept. |
| 605 | 19 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 606 | 19 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. Redmine was particularly useful for tracking the evolution of the project and ensuring that the final solution remained aligned with the initial objectives. The platform supported task assignment, monitoring of progress and organization of deliverables. It also helped the team identify pending work, such as completing the mockup, refining the report sections, adding diagrams and preparing the final presentation. |
| 607 | 98 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 608 | 48 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. The project followed an iterative approach. Initial ideas were refined after the analysis of existing solutions, stakeholder feedback and mockup development. This iterative process was important because Obstech is a user-centered telemedicine solution, requiring alignment between patient needs, clinical requirements and technical feasibility. |
| 609 | 98 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 610 | 48 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. Overall, project management contributed to maintaining a structured workflow, distributing responsibilities and ensuring that the final prototype and report were developed in a coherent and progressive way. |
| 611 | 98 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 612 | 48 | Inês Vasconcelos | h2. *7. Problems/Difficulties* |
| 613 | 98 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 614 | 48 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. During the development of Obstech – Tele-CTG, several challenges were identified. These difficulties were related to the clinical nature of the problem, the technological complexity of remote CTG monitoring, the need to balance patient and professional requirements, and the limitations of the project scope. |
| 615 | 98 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 616 | 48 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. One of the first challenges was understanding the clinical context of cardiotocography and remote fetal monitoring. CTG is a clinically relevant exam that involves the interpretation of fetal heart rate and uterine activity, and therefore it was necessary to ensure that the proposed solution respected the importance of clinical supervision. This required the team to carefully distinguish between information that could be safely simplified for the pregnant woman and information that should remain available only to healthcare professionals. |
| 617 | 98 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 618 | 48 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. A second difficulty was defining the role of the automatic analysis component. Although intelligent alerts and decision-support tools are valuable features, the team recognized that the system should not be presented as an autonomous diagnostic tool. Instead, Obstech was positioned as a clinical support system, where automatic alerts and signal quality validation help professionals prioritize cases, but final interpretation remains the responsibility of the healthcare team. |
| 619 | 98 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 620 | 48 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. Another challenge was related to the design of the patient-facing interface. The app needed to be simple, reassuring and understandable, while still being connected to a clinically meaningful monitoring process. Too much clinical detail could increase anxiety or confusion, while too little information could make the app feel incomplete or unhelpful. The final design therefore focused on plain-language summaries, visual organization, pregnancy evolution, monitoring history and a digital pregnancy booklet. |
| 621 | 98 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 622 | 48 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. The clinical platform presented a different design challenge. Healthcare professionals require more detailed information, including complete CTG records, patient history, alerts, reports and monitoring trends. Therefore, the platform needed to be more data-rich than the patient app, while still remaining organized and easy to navigate. Balancing clinical depth with interface simplicity was one of the central design difficulties. |
| 623 | 98 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 624 | 48 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. The selection and conceptualization of the wearable device also represented a challenge. Since the project did not involve the physical development of biomedical hardware, the device had to be described at a conceptual level while remaining technically plausible. The proposed device was therefore defined as a wearable CTG acquisition system capable of collecting fetal heart rate and uterine activity signals and transmitting them to the patient application. |
| 625 | 19 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 626 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. Data privacy and security were also important concerns. Maternal and fetal health data are highly sensitive, which means that any real implementation of Obstech would need to comply with data protection regulations, including GDPR. This required the inclusion of privacy-related requirements such as informed consent, encrypted transmission, role-based access and secure storage. |
| 627 | 99 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 628 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. Finally, the project faced the limitation of being a prototype rather than a fully implemented medical device or clinical platform. The current implementation demonstrates the service concept and main user flows through an interactive mockup, but it does not yet include real signal acquisition, backend infrastructure, hospital integration or clinical validation. These limitations were acknowledged and included as part of the future work. |
| 629 | 99 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 630 | 47 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. Despite these challenges, the difficulties encountered helped refine the project and made the final proposal more realistic. They reinforced the need for a hybrid solution that combines usability, clinical oversight, technical feasibility and future regulatory awareness. |
| 631 | 99 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 632 | 47 | Inês Vasconcelos | h2. *8. Conclusions* |
| 633 | 99 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 634 | 47 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. The Obstech – Tele-CTG project addresses a relevant challenge in maternal-fetal healthcare: the need to make cardiotocography monitoring more accessible, continuous and connected to clinical follow-up. Traditional CTG monitoring is mainly hospital-based, which can lead to frequent hospital visits, episodic monitoring, reduced autonomy for pregnant women and increased pressure on obstetric services. |
| 635 | 99 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 636 | 47 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. The market assessment confirmed that existing solutions are divided between two main categories. On one side, hospital-based systems provide clinical reliability and complete CTG data but are limited in accessibility. On the other side, home-based solutions improve convenience but often lack clinical integration, intelligent analysis, bidirectional communication or a well-developed patient interface. This gap creates an opportunity for a hybrid telemedicine solution such as Obstech. |
| 637 | 99 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 638 | 20 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The proposed system combines three main components: a wearable CTG device, a mobile application for pregnant women and a clinical platform for healthcare professionals. Together, these components create a remote monitoring workflow that connects the home environment with the healthcare system. The patient app focuses on simplicity, reassurance and understandable information, while the professional platform provides access to structured clinical data, monitoring records, alerts and reports. |
| 639 | 19 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 640 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. The use case analysis and mockup development helped define the main interactions of the system. The pregnant woman can perform monitoring, consult CTG summaries, access monitoring history, follow pregnancy evolution, receive notifications and use a digital pregnancy booklet. The healthcare professional can consult complete CTG records, analyse monitoring data, access clinical history, receive alerts, generate reports and contact the patient. The system also includes technical functions such as receiving device data, validating signal quality, validating transmission and sending technical alerts. |
| 641 | 100 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 642 | 46 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. The final prototype demonstrates the core concept of Obstech as an integrated telemedicine service rather than a standalone device or application. It shows how remote CTG monitoring could be made more accessible for pregnant women while preserving clinical supervision and professional decision-making. |
| 643 | 100 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 644 | 46 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. Overall, Obstech contributes to the modernization of pregnancy monitoring by proposing a model that bridges the gap between hospital-based fetal surveillance and home-based digital health. The project highlights the importance of designing telemedicine solutions that are not only technically feasible, but also clinically meaningful and centered on the needs of both patients and healthcare professionals. |
| 645 | 100 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 646 | 46 | Inês Vasconcelos | h2. *9. Future Work* |
| 647 | 100 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 648 | 46 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. Although the current project successfully defines and prototypes the Obstech concept, several future developments would be required before the solution could be implemented in a real clinical context. |
| 649 | 100 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 650 | 46 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. The first future step would be to conduct usability testing with pregnant women, recent mothers and healthcare professionals. This would allow the evaluation of the clarity, usability and perceived usefulness of both the patient app and the clinical platform. Methods such as structured questionnaires, task-based testing and think-aloud sessions could be used to identify interface improvements and validate the user experience. |
| 651 | 100 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 652 | 46 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. A second important step would be the technical development of a functional prototype. This would include the implementation of the mobile application, the clinical web platform, the backend infrastructure, database system and secure data transmission mechanisms. The current Figma prototype would therefore serve as the foundation for a future software implementation. |
| 653 | 100 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 654 | 46 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. Another essential future development would be the integration of real biomedical signal acquisition. This would require the selection or development of a wearable CTG device capable of recording fetal heart rate and uterine activity in a home environment. The device would need to be tested for signal quality, usability, comfort, battery life, connectivity and reliability. |
| 655 | 100 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 656 | 46 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. Clinical validation would also be necessary. Any future version of Obstech intended for real healthcare use would need to be compared with standard hospital CTG equipment to evaluate accuracy, reliability and safety. This would require collaboration with healthcare institutions and professionals specialized in obstetrics. |
| 657 | 100 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 658 | 46 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. Artificial intelligence and automatic analysis could also be explored in future work. Machine learning algorithms could support CTG pattern recognition, signal quality assessment, risk indicators and alert prioritization. However, these tools should be developed as clinical decision-support mechanisms and not as replacements for healthcare professionals. |
| 659 | 100 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 660 | 19 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. Integration with hospital information systems would also be an important future step. The use of interoperability standards such as HL7/FHIR would allow Obstech to connect with electronic health records and existing clinical workflows, improving continuity of care and avoiding fragmented information. |
| 661 | 19 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 662 | 20 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. Regulatory and ethical aspects should also be further developed. As a solution involving maternal and fetal health data and potential medical device components, Obstech would need to comply with GDPR and, in a real implementation scenario, may require evaluation under the European Medical Device Regulation. Future work should therefore include a more detailed regulatory pathway and risk assessment. |
| 663 | 20 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 664 | 20 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. Finally, the business and implementation model could be expanded. Future studies could explore whether Obstech would be more suitable as a hospital-provided service, a telemedicine platform integrated into public healthcare, a private maternity care solution, or a hybrid model. This would help define the most realistic pathway for adoption. |
| 665 | 28 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 666 | 29 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. In summary, future work should focus on usability validation, functional software development, biomedical device integration, clinical validation, AI-based support tools, hospital interoperability and regulatory assessment. These steps would allow Obstech to evolve from a conceptual prototype into a clinically viable telemedicine solution for remote pregnancy monitoring. |
| 667 | 20 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 668 | 20 | Marta Martins Filipe | h2. *10. Hyperlinks for App Mockup* |
| 669 | 20 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 670 | 20 | Marta Martins Filipe | Interactive mockups for both the patient application and the clinical platform are available for review through the following links: |
| 671 | 101 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 672 | 20 | Marta Martins Filipe | *Patient App Mockup (Figma):* https://www.figma.com/proto/znMYyLlW8g8Ft4tuAYhP5a/A-equipe-de-up202502464-team-library?node-id=3312-2&t=RihzMLqr8VuII7PF-1 |
| 673 | 101 | Marta Martins Filipe | *Clinical Platform Mockup (Figma):* https://www.figma.com/proto/znMYyLlW8g8Ft4tuAYhP5a/A-equipe-de-up202502464-team-library?node-id=3410-1307&p=f&t=sKPc6qg4GZ0flH44-1&scaling=scale-down&content-scaling=fixed&page-id=3397%3A621&starting-point-node-id=3410%3A1307&show-proto-sidebar=1 |
| 674 | 20 | Marta Martins Filipe | *Prototype Demo:* INSERIR LINK!! |
| 675 | 101 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 676 | 20 | Marta Martins Filipe | h2. *11. Teaser* |
| 677 | 109 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 678 | 20 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. _Obstech – Tele-CTG_ reimagines how pregnancy monitoring works. Instead of repeated hospital visits for routine CTG exams, pregnant women use a simple wearable device at home, and their clinical team gets the data instantly. |
| 679 | 20 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 680 | 20 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. For the pregnant woman: a clear, reassuring app that shows her CTG results in plain language, tracks her pregnancy week by week, and keeps everything in one place: her digital pregnancy booklet. |
| 681 | 20 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 682 | 20 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. For the healthcare team: a powerful clinical platform with full CTG traces, patient history, automated reports, and real-time alerts, everything needed to monitor patients remotely without compromising clinical quality. |
| 683 | 20 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 684 | 20 | Marta Martins Filipe | p<>. _Obstech_ bridges the gap between hospital monitoring and home-based pregnancy care. |
| 685 | 20 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 686 | 20 | Marta Martins Filipe | h2. *12. Presentation* |
| 687 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 688 | 158 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. The final presentation of Obstech – Tele-CTG was structured to clearly communicate the project’s motivation, market relevance, proposed solution, system modelling, prototype and future development. The presentation follows a logical progression from the identification of the clinical problem to the demonstration of the proposed telemedicine solution. |
| 689 | 158 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 690 | 158 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. The presentation begins with the project title and concept, introducing Obstech – Tele-CTG as a hybrid remote fetal monitoring solution developed within the scope of Telemedicine and e-Health. The first slide presents the project as a system combining a wearable CTG device, a mobile application for pregnant women, a clinical platform for healthcare professionals and secure transmission of monitoring data. |
| 691 | 158 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 692 | 158 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. The second part of the presentation focuses on the current clinical problem. It explains that CTG is essential for assessing fetal well-being, but remains mainly hospital-based. The main limitations presented are hospital dependency, frequent visits for routine monitoring, limited continuity of care and access barriers for women living in rural or underserved areas. |
| 693 | 158 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 694 | 158 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. The presentation then introduces the global impact and market opportunity. This slide highlights the scale of pregnancy monitoring as a global healthcare need, using key values such as approximately 132.1 million births per year, 360,000 births per day, and the fact that in some studies around 75% of pregnant women use pregnancy apps. These values support the idea that remote and digitally supported pregnancy monitoring has strong potential relevance. |
| 695 | 158 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 696 | 158 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. After presenting the problem and market dimension, the presentation includes a state-of-the-art comparison. Existing solutions are compared according to home use, full CTG capability, clinical platform, patient app and automatic analysis. The comparison includes solutions such as Avalon CL, HeraBEAT, PregnaBit Pro and Sense4Baby, with Obstech positioned as a planned solution aiming to combine these dimensions in a more integrated way. |
| 697 | 158 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 698 | 158 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. The solution slide presents Obstech as a hybrid telemedicine system for remote CTG monitoring. The main components highlighted are home-based CTG signal acquisition, fetal heart rate and uterine activity monitoring, secure data transmission, a simplified patient interface, a clinical dashboard, alerts and report generation. |
| 699 | 158 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 700 | 158 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. The presentation also includes the use case diagram, identifying the main actors involved in the system: pregnant woman, healthcare professional, wearable device, Obstech platform and administrator. This slide supports the functional modelling of the project and summarizes the key workflow: CTG acquisition, data transmission, signal validation, clinical analysis and report or alert generation. |
| 701 | 158 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 702 | 158 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. The mockup section presents the two main interfaces developed for the project: the pregnancy interface and the healthcare professional interface. This part of the presentation is intended to demonstrate the user-centered design of the system and show how the solution would be experienced by both pregnant women and clinical users. |
| 703 | 158 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 704 | 158 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. The market assessment and opportunity slide reinforces the high digital adoption in pregnancy care. It states that more than 50% of pregnant women use or have used at least one pregnancy app, 75.3% used maternal and child health apps in a Chinese survey, and 94.2% used pregnancy apps in a recent Australian survey. However, the current offer remains limited, as many apps focus mainly on information, tracking and reassurance, while lacking clinical validation, integration with healthcare professionals and decision-support tools. Therefore, the opportunity for Obstech is to move from pregnancy tracking to clinically connected fetal monitoring. |
| 705 | 158 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 706 | 158 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. The final content slide summarizes the conclusion and future work. Obstech is presented as a hybrid telemedicine model connecting the pregnant woman, the home environment and the healthcare system. The main future steps include usability testing, clinical validation, integration with hospital information systems, integration with artificial intelligence, and assessment of regulatory and data privacy requirements. |
| 707 | 158 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 708 | 158 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. Overall, the presentation was designed to communicate the project in a concise and visual way, emphasizing the clinical problem, the market opportunity, the proposed solution and the functional prototype. Its main message is that Obstech bridges the gap between hospital monitoring and home-based pregnancy care, supporting a more accessible, patient-centered and clinically integrated model of fetal monitoring. |
| 709 | 158 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 710 | 158 | Inês Vasconcelos | *Presentation link (Canva):* https://canva.link/f8r9de0j9jqpxfg |
| 711 | 158 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 712 | 158 | Inês Vasconcelos | The PDF version of the final presentation is included in the project documents and can be consulted together with the remaining deliverables. |
| 713 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | |
| 714 | 1 | Marta Martins Filipe | h2. *References* |
| 715 | 159 | Inês Vasconcelos | |
| 716 | 159 | Inês Vasconcelos | p<>. The following references were used to support the state-of-the-art analysis, market assessment, and conceptual development of the Obstech – Tele-CTG solution. |