Determining fractal dimension of umbilical artery Doppler signals using Hurst exponent.

Doppler signals from the umbilical artery of 20 women with normal pregnancy between 18 and 20 weeks of gestation were recorded. The AR spectral analysis method has been used to obtain the Doppler sonograms of umbilical artery belonging to normal pregnant subjects and fractal dimension curves were calculated using Hurst exponent. RI; PI and S/D indexes have been calculated from the maximum frequency envelope of Doppler sonograms and from the fractal dimension curve. Area under the curve from ROC curve for RI, PI and S/D indexes derived from maximum frequency waveform were calculated as 0.931, 0.959, 0.938, respectively and area under the curve for RI, PI and S/D indexes derived from fractal dimension curve were calculated as 0.933, 0.961, and 0.941, respectively. These results show that, the Doppler indexes derived from fractal dimension curve are as sensitive as Doppler indexes derived from maximum velocity curve. Power Spectral Density graphics were derived from Doppler signals and Hurst exponent values calculated to evaluate the blood flow changing during pregnancy. ROC curve for PSD(HURST) index was calculated as 0.97. According to this result, PSD(HURST) index is more sensitive to detect the blood flow changing than traditional Doppler indexes.