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Drugs which cause the uterus to contract are commonly used to induce labour. These drugs are normally fed into a vein using a metered or pumped infusion system.
The Cardiff infusion system provides a complete control loop to regulate the flow of the drug according to the strength of the resulting uterine contractions. The infusion system may operate through connections to a cardiotocograph to derive the contraction signals, or may contain both measuring and control circuitry in the same housing.
Such systems are not often used, partly because of the unreliability of the uterine contraction signal. If the contractions are not recorded properly the device may demand an increase in the rate of infusion when none is required.
Content and Design Copyright 2000 Dr. Malcolm C Brown. See Title Page for more details