©Pregnancy bliss 2008
4D baby scan: Safety
In all the fascination and excitement that has inevitably accompanied the advent
of 4D baby ultrasound, there is always that quite legitimate pause, seeking an answer
to the question. Is it safe? 4D Ultrasound is safe and here I set out to explain
why I can make such a n explicit and unambiguous statement.
Brief History of Medical
Ultrasound
Medical ultrasound has been with us for well over 60 years; that is since
the 1940s when first used by Karl Dussick in Austria. It has been a mainstream investigative
and diagnostic tool in pregnancy care since the 1970s and it is often described as
an extension of an obstetrician’s hand. That is how dependent we have become on this
technology.
Mainstream 3D and 4D ultrasound scan is largely a 21st century development.
Whilst the technology has been around since at least the early 1990s, it has been
almost exclusively a research tool, the computing power and huge cost being the main
limiting factors. Computing power has increased exponentially, something that has
allowed the cost to drop to realistic levels for the technology to come into the
sphere of the ordinary consumer.
In the last 5 to 6 years, the use of 3D and 4D ultrasound
scan in pregnancy has taken off at an astonishing rate all across the globe.
How does
4D Ultrasound differ from ‘standard’ Ultrasound?
First things first. It is important
to make it clear from the outset that 3D and 4D ultrasound is exactly the same technology
as the conventional 2D ultrasound that everybody is familiar with.
Ultrasound is basically
very high frequency sound waves. These sound waves are at a frequency well beyond
the perception of the human ear and therefore no sound is actually audible.
Conventional
or ‘standard’ ultrasound gives an image in two dimensions. 3D ultrasound, as the
name suggests, gives a three-dimensional image. However, as is the convention, 3D
describes a static image. With this technological development, you can see the baby
in 3D and see the motion as well. It is the motion that is described as the fourth
dimension hence the term 4D. In other words, you can see your baby in three dimensions
and see all the action taking place in the womb.