The method know as three dimensional ultrasound is used when a woman is in early pregnancy, it provides 3d pictures of the fetus. Most of the time these images are captured and combined and animated to produce a “4d ultrasound scan”.
Three dimensional scanning works in the same way to the normal scanning methods except that the ultrasound pulses can be sent from multiple directions. The ultrasound waves are redirected back then captured to provide info to construct a 3-dimensional image in much the same way as 3d movies. 3 dimesional ultasound scanning was devised by olaf ramm abs stephen smith.
It is important to understand that sonologists around the world have always pictured 3d images of the body in their minds while doing 2d scans. However, until recently it was difficult to do this type of reconstruction on on info using ultrasound. With the advent of baby scans for the first time allowed us a peek into the brain of a sonologist and hence letting us view the images on the ultrasound machine.
The 3d/4d ultrasound image should utilize ultrasound energy following the same limits as conventional 2d ultrasound to create the 3d images. There is no data to suggest any harm due to 3d ultasound scanning, its use in non-medical situations needs to be undertaken with an understanding of the risks that exist.
