Women get chance to ‘hold’ unborn babies
Ultrasound is being used to make models of unborn children.
Pregnant women can hold life-size models of their unborn babies thanks to an invention that converts data from ultrasound and MRI scans.
Jorge Lopes, a Brazilian designer, uses 3-D printing technology to create the plaster models.
Stuart Campbell, head of obstetrics and gynaecology at King’s College London and a pioneer of the use of ultrasound diagnosis in the 1980s, told the Times newspaper it was a “fantastic development and it is absolutely unique.”
The technology is being trialled at a clinic in Rio de Janeiro.
“It’s amazing to see the faces of the mothers. They can see the full scale of their baby, really understand the size of it,” said Dr Lopes told the Times.
Dr Lopes came across the 3-D printing method, known as rapid prototyping, when he was working on the reconstruction of archaeological finds such as dinosaurs and Egyptian mummies for museums, the Times reported.
