Disposable Dynamometer Measures Uterine Contractions

An innovative tocodynamometer utilizes air-charged technology to accurately measure uterine contractions.

The Koala Toco is a single-use disposable tocodynamometer with no electronic components, making it lightweight and more comfortable for the patient. Placed externally over the fundal area of the uterus, the device provides enhanced signal acquisition, easier-to-visualize tracings, and a better overall monitoring experience. The Koala Toco is based on advanced signal amplification technology, which is designed to improve performance, particularly in traditionally difficult-to-monitor patients such as those with high body mass index (BMI).

Device sensitivity is controlled by a HI/LO button placed on the reusable cable, which connects the tocodynamometer to a fetal monitor. The same cable can also be used, if needed, with the Koala intrauterine pressure catheter (IUPC) for intrapartum pressure monitoring; the cable is simply disconnected from one and connected to the other. Both the Koala Toco and Koala IUPC are products of Clinical Innovations (Salt Lake City, UT, USA), and have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

“Clinical Innovations is committed to developing and commercializing innovative technologies to solve challenges in obstetrics,” said Jeff Bradford, vice president of global marketing at Clinical Innovations. “Koala Toco is a simple and yet important innovation for clinicians and the thousands of pregnant women monitored daily. We are proud to make it easier for healthcare providers to help their patients deliver healthy babies.”

A tocodynamometer is a device for monitoring and recording uterine contractions before and during labor. It consists of a pressure transducer that is placed over the fundus area of the uterus using a belt, and then records the duration of contractions and the intervals between them on a monitor or on graph paper.

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