We are grateful for the opportunity to offer this positive experience to expectant women. We have seen first hand how happy our patients are after having a 3D/4D ultrasound. They appreciate the experience we provide, which includes using a safe and enhanced technology to help expecting women, and their families, bond with their baby.
Ultrasound has been used safely in obstetrics for over 35 years, encompassing three generations of women and millions of ultrasounds. Several studies have verified that it is a non-invasive tool with vast benefits. Specific studies can be reviewed on Dr. Joseph Woo’s renowned site www.ob-ultrasound.net, a highly respected source of information in the field. These studies confirm that no adverse findings of diagnostic ultrasound levels have ever been replicated. In fact, new studies are showing that there is a psychosocial benefit for expecting women. Women who have had 3D/4D ultrasounds, and had the opportunity to bond with their baby, improved their diets, exercised more frequently, and eliminated harmful behaviors such as smoking and drinking. For a mother who has had the chance to actually glimpse at the life growing inside of her, this is a life-changing event. Not only for her, but the chance to see the baby and create a pre-birth bond for the father and sibling is irreplaceable.
The FDA emphasizes the safety of ultrasound: “The agency sets the standard for the level of energy to be used for various treatments or diagnoses, including fetal ultrasounds. This standard restricts ultrasound exposure to levels that produce few, if any, effects on the fetus, based on epidemiological evidence” (FDA Consumer magazine, January-February 2004 Issue).
Our ultrasound machine uses ultrasound energy subject to the same limits as conventional 2D ultrasound (which is used in all obstetric offices) to create the 3 and 4-dimensional images. Our policy dictates that all systems be used only in the Obstetrics Application. As a result, the ultrasound energy is limited by the manufacturer below FDA limits for obstetrical ultrasound, whether scanning 2, 3 or 4 dimensionally (The FDA limit for obstetrical ultrasound is 94 milliwatts/cm2).
3 and 4-dimensional ultrasound imaging is not a product of increased frequency or “power” levels, but a combination of increased data gathering (listening) by the transducer and software interpretation after data acquisition.
Please see these articles for further information regarding the safety of 3D/4D imaging:
http://www.baby-ultrasound.com/2DUltrasound.html
http://www.expectantmothersguide.com/library/stlouis/ESLultrasound.htm
http://www.bmus.org/asp/detail00.asp?ref=274&url=/policies-guides/pg-pressitems.asp?ref=1
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003778.htm