Source localization of uterine activity using maximum entropy on the mean approach

This study evaluates the ability of distributed source localization methods to accurately estimate the location of the sources as well as their sensitivity to the spatial extent of the sources when using EHG data. We use here realistic simulations of uterine electrical activity based on a realistically uterus shape and take into account 16 electrodes for simulated recorde EHG signal, A Data Driven Parcellization (DDP) method was used to segment the uterus surface into non-overlapping regions. Our results showed that the localization is sensitive to the spatial extents of the sources (range from 11 cm
²
to 29 cm
²
, and also to the number and size of the regions defining the model. Our analysis of the evolution of the real sources during contraction showed a non linear propagation of uterine electrical activity.