Life-saving technology used before a baby is even born

Dubai: Parents-to-be can now get a unique glimpse of their unborn baby in full colour through a revolutionary new four dimensional ultra-sound scanner.

A baby's fingers, toes and even the colour of its eyes can now be seen with the new technology.

Instead of the grainy, black-and-white, two-dimensional image which sometimes resembled nothing like an unborn child, the 4D ultrasound lets patients clearly see their babies moving freely in the womb. The new technology takes three-dimensional still images and adds a fourth dimension, real time, resulting in live video images. But it is also potentially life-saving.

The technology is used to analyse foetal development, evaluate high-risk pregnancies or detect abnormalities. The movement of the baby in full colour video imaging allows doctors to detect vascular anomalies and genetic syndromes.

And medics also say the ultrasound is a non-invasive way to see the development of the baby's organs and identify any risks, helping to reduce the number of pregnant mothers having to undergo dangerous operations unnecessarily.

The Welcare Hospital in Deira is one of several clinics using the 4D technology.

Dad-to-be Walid Medhat, seeing his unborn son for the first time, told Gulf News: "You can see the shape of the baby's face, his movements, he even saluted; its amazing you connect with the baby before you have it."

Scans regularly reveal babies grimacing, smiling and even laughing, though some scientists claim they are only reflex movements.

And Dr Mahmoud Shahin a consulting radiologist at Al Zahra clinic on Shaikh Zayed Road said there is a huge demand for the scan among Dubai parents.

"So many people want to see their babies now; it is so advanced that even in the US they have instant photo booths where pregnant women can get a prenatal picture of their babies."