Pushing the Limits of Prenatal Portraiture
Posted on May 15, 2004 by Inception Fertility
 Photos provided by 3DbabyVu
**A first glimpse of a baby in the womb**, especially for women who have faced an arduous route to pregnancy, is perhaps as euphoric a moment as the "You're Pregnant!" announcement. It is only natural for parents to want a visual connection with the infant as early as possible. Seizing on this yearning, a new crop of commercial ultrasound studios has mushroomed all over the country, offering parents a chance to have a first look via an elaborate 3D and even 4D video ultrasound. At least three such businesses are in the Bay Area. Yet new parents contemplating a nonmedical 3D ultrasound simply for novelty or posterity should be fully aware of this technology in a rapidly evolving marketplace. The safety of common medical ultrasounds is undisputed. For over 35 years, ob-gyns have used 2D ultrasound technology as standard practice to medically diagnose the health of a weeks-old fetus, enjoying an early glimpse of its emerging shape, major organ development, tissue and blood flow and when desired, the gender. The ultrasound repertoire is so common; over 80 million procedures are now performed in the US each year, reports one clinic. Nevertheless, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the primary medical association that oversees ultrasonography - the American Institute of Ultrasound Medicine (AIUM), have thus far refused to endorse 3D and 4D ultrasounds offered by commercial studios. The concern is less about the technology itself, and more about how it is applied. While the sound wave levels used for a 2D and a 3D/4D are reportedly of the same frequency, (it's the computer diagnosis that creates the image differentiation), there is more built-in oversight in the medical community performing diagnostic ultrasounds. For instance, is the person performing the commercial fetal portrait properly trained? Right now, it is up to the 3D studio to make sure that the person controlling the knobs and holding the transducer has undergone the same training standards required for ultrasonography at an ob-gyn office. Professional (non-physician) ultrasound practitioners undergo nearly three years of training, including 12-18 months for didactic and 12-18 months of clinical practice in order to gain the key certification from the American Registry of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers (ARDMS). Moreover, there is concern that a commercial portrait ultrasound will reveal a developmental problem with the fetus that should be observed and discussed only through a physician/patient relationship. Another concern is that enthusiastic parents will forego a routine medical ultrasound after obtaining an elaborate portraiture one. In response, many commercial ultrasound studios are requiring patients to bring proof of a prior medical diagnostic ultrasound. Finally, knowing a bit about the technology helps parents make an informed decision. In the medical community, the standard is to expose the fetus to the lowest possible exposure level for the shortest amount of time, usually 10 minutes or so. Because frequent ultrasonography at higher levels can produce a heating effect in bone and tissue, the aim is to minimize exposure. Yet some commercial fetal portrait studios offer deluxe packages involving a 45 minute video ultrasound. A spokesperson from 3DBabyVu insists that the potential for physical damage to the fetus via a wrong decimal level setting is literally and virtually not possible, at least with the standard GE Voluson machines, which provide a cap to the frequency level. Yet he admitted that the same machines have two other settings for cardiac mode and vascular mode to examine more robust adult tissue. If patients choose to purchase a dynamic 3D or 4D image package offered by one of these enterprising studios, we strongly recommend that you learn as much as possible and even consult with your ob-gyn if you are at all confused. Also, it is best to confirm that the sonographer at the commercial studio is ARDM certified. Because the practice of fetal portraiture imaging is self-regulated, it is the patient's responsibility to be aware of current research and be as informed as possible prior to using this new technology. Categories
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