A person is prone to curiosity, and even to pregnant women. Without a doubt, every future mother is asked daily by questions about what her baby feels in the tummy, what it looks like, what it does at a certain time, etc. Fortunately, science and technology do not stand still, and, in order to preserve its peace of mind, for answers to all questions of interest to pregnant women and not only was invented a four-dimensional ultrasound.
Unlike the most common and safe two-dimensional in the form of a flat black and white picture on the screen, incomprehensible to the patient, 4 d ultrasound of the fetus is a kind of ultrasound in the format of 3 d. Therefore, it is often called 3d video ultrasound. And if the 3D ultrasound, the volume and color image of the fetus in three dimensions "length / height / depth," is static, then 4 d ultrasound in pregnancy has a fourth dimension - "time", with which, in addition to the smallest details of the appearance of the baby, during the session Ultrasound can also be considered for its movement on-line. Moreover, the recording of ultrasound data in pregnancy in 3d and 4d formats on a disk or a flash card in the form of a video clip or even a simple photo will ensure future parents and their relatives receive and preserve the brightest impressions of the first meetings with crumbs for a long time.
But the function 4d ultrasound of the fetus, as a variety of three-dimensional ultrasound, besides the banal desire and curiosity of the mother to get acquainted with her baby in the womb, is also in the following important diagnostic points:
- identification of external developmental anomalies ("wolf mouth", "hare lip", problems with the spinal cord);
- the most effective, accurate and fast unlike 2d ultrasound, the detection of chromosomal abnormalities of the embryo (avoidance of a diagnostic error in the measurement of the cervical fold, examination of the nasal bone);
- detection of anomalies of the central nervous system due to the possibility to reconstruct the ventricles of the brain of the embryo already in the first trimester;
- diagnosis of congenital heart defects (less dependence on the professionalism of the doctor than with conventional ultrasound, on-line mode allows to examine the work of the heart in each phase of the cardiac cycle);
- visualization of details of fetal bones, length, symmetry of the limbs, spine structure, jaws and fingers and toes with the option of skeletal reconstruction;
- observation of facial expressions of the fetus, indicating the presence / absence of problems in its development;
- an unmistakable determination of the sex of the child due to high visibility of the genitals.
The most optimal for conducting 4d ultrasound in pregnancy is the period of 10-28 weeks. During this period, a relatively small baby can still move freely in the amniotic waters of the mother's womb, which allows to qualitatively visualize it and the work of its systems. At a more "older age", often fixing their position with their backs to the sensor, obtaining a quality image of crumbs can be problematic.