What is a prenatal ultrasound?
Ultrasounds are the use of high-frequency sound waves to produce dynamic images. The procedure involves using a transducer, which sends a stream of high-frequency sound waves into the body and detects their echoes as they bounce off internal structures. The sound waves are then converted to electric impulses, which are processed to form an image displayed on a computer monitor. It is from these images that videos and portraits are made. There are 3 categories of our elective prenatal ultrasounds; 2D, 3D, and 4D. In standard 2D [2 dimensional] ultrasound imaging the picture seen on the screen is made up of thin slices of a particular area of your baby. Only one thin slice is seen at a time. A 3D [3 dimensional] ultrasound consists of a series of multiple 2D slices combined together to produce “life-like” pictures. A 4D [4 dimensional] ultrasound consists the fourth dimension of motion time. The ultrasound uses 4D technology to show moving 3D images similar to a video.
