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The method know as three dimensional ultrasound is used during early pregnancy, it provides 3d pictures of the unborn baby. Most of the time these pictures are collated and combined and animated to produce a 4d ultrasound scan.

Three dimensional scanning works in the same way to the usual ultrasound methods except that the ultrasound pulses can be sent from many directions. The ultrasound waves are reflected back and captured and provide information to construct a 3 d image in much the same way as 3d pictures. 3 dimesional ultasound scanning was started by stephen smith and olaf von ramm at duke university.

It is important to understand that sonologists all over the world have always conjured 3d pictures of the body in their minds while doing 2d scans. However, until recently it was impossible to do this type of reconstruction on on info using ultrasound. With the introduction of ultrasound baby scans for the first time allowed us a view into the thinking of a sonologist and hence letting us view the images on the ultrasound machine.

The 3d/4d ultrasound image should utilize ultrasound energy following the same limits as conventional 2d ultrasound to create the 3d images. While there is no information of harm due to 3d ultrasound, its use in none essential situations should be undertaken with an understanding of the risks involved.