Fetal Monitor iCTG

Wearable fetal monitor for mothers that alert health centers of risks during pregnancy.

Past and Current Partners

UNDP Bhutan, TCP (Technology Commercialisation Programme organised by the Japanese Government), NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation)

Active Countries

Bhutan, Thailand

Thematic area(s)

Health, Gender

Technology

SaaS

Organisation Name

Melody International Ltd.

The Problem

Fetal Monitor iCTG and Melody perinatal eHealth platform target problem is the high rate of the global maternal mortality rate, with a global average of 211 per 100,000 live births (2017), and many of these deaths were preventable and occurred in developing countries. Their solution utilises digital technologies to foster these preventative possibilities. And they perfectly match UNDP's targets. They are already working on these challenges in Thailand and Bhutan with the help of the Government of Japan and UNDP, providing solutions and continuing to update pain points.

The Solution

Fetal monitor iCTG is an ultra-compact, completely wireless, and mobile delivery monitoring device that measures the fetal heart rate and uterine contractions from 20 minutes to several hours and graphically displays the measured data on devices such as tablets, smartphones, and PCs.

How it works?

Step 1: Understanding the issues that the government wants to address, such as the need to reduce the maternal and child mortality rate and increase the maternal health check-up rate
Step 2: Establishing a collaborative system with the government (Ministry of Health) and medical institutions to research and understand the maternity health check-up and insurance systems
Step 3: Introducing services to representative medical institutions and start foetal monitoring on a small scale
Step 4: Optimising the service to suit the local perinatal healthcare system
Step 5: Implementing the service to remote areas with limited medical resourcesStep 6: Providing education and training for users and sharing case studies with other regions and countries

Bridging the digital divide

Local language support and disability support functions. In addition, the required transmission speed is very low and most of the functions can be used even when out of communication range.

Impact and highlights

Thailand: 30 units have been installed in 30 hospitals and 7,776 antenatal check-ups have been diagnosed remotely in areas where there is a shortage of doctors.
Bhutan: 55 units in 46 hospitals, covering pregnant women in all regions by only 13 obstetricians in the entire country, 4 000 measurements were diagnosed remotely, despite the COVID-19 situation.

Plans for expansion

Actively expanding business overseas. Products are currently being introduced in Southeast Asian and African countries. This year, they are planning to conduct government-subsidized pilot projects in Tanzania, Kenya and the Philippines.

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