An ultrasound uses high-frequency sound waves to create an image of a developing baby, the mother's placenta, and the uterus.
An ultrasound can provide very important diagnostic information about a developing baby, including confirmation of pregnancy and gestational age; control of multiple pregnancies, congenital anomalies and/or problems with the placenta; monitor fetal position, fetal growth, and amniotic fluid level; and assist in other tests.
Different types of ultrasound include transvaginal ultrasound, 3D ultrasound, 4D ultrasound, or fetal echocardiography.
A little history about prenatal ultrasound
The development of ultrasound imaging began in the mid-1877th century with the work of the Austrian physicist and mathematician Christian Doppler, who postulated that the observed frequency of a wave depends on the relative speed of the source and the observer. Fast forward to XNUMX when Lord Rayleigh in England published "The Theory of Sound" which first described the sound wave as a mathematical equation, thus forming the basis of acoustics.
Physicists used these principles to develop underwater sonar detection systems for underwater navigation of submarines in World War I after the Titanic sank in 1912. The 1930s saw the construction of pulse ultrasonic metal flaw detectors. -echo, which were used to verify the integrity of the metal. hulls of large ships and armor plates of battle tanks.
In the mid-50s, Dr. Ian Donald in Glasgow and other doctors in the US and Japan began adapting this technique to diagnose medical conditions (at the time, tumors). Research into this diagnostic modality and the development of more reliable and sophisticated imaging machines and techniques took off in the mid-1960s, so that by the early 1970s real-time scanners were becoming more popular. available. Technological advances continued such that sophisticated diagnostic techniques are now available and routinely used throughout the Western world.
Ultrasound is used today to assess the development of the fetus, uterus, and placenta to ensure proper fetal and uterine/placental development. At its most basic level, ultrasound imaging is used to assess a developing pregnancy.
El Dr. Daniel García, gynecologist and obstetrician at Ginefem, explains what prenatal ultrasounds are.
