Word: ultrasound
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...smiling, blinking fetuses, in sepia tones and often set to music, is rapidly becoming the hip new baby-shower gift. Couples or their friends can spend upwards of $250 on deluxe packages that may include 5-by-7 portraits, DVDs and a personalized Web page. Denver's First View Ultrasound even offers catering and limousine service to accommodate large parties, in addition to unlimited Kleenex because customers are so moved by the ultrasound experience...
...true for many of their doctors. Generally, ob-gyns make it a practice to avoid exposing fetuses to powerful sound waves any more than is necessary. Both the FDA and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) have warned against the trivial use of sonograms. Yet several keepsake-ultrasound companies actually offer discounts to encourage repeat visits...
...Joshua Copel, president-elect of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine, can come up with only one other example of medical imaging equipment being used in a nonmedical setting--and that fad became extinct decades ago: "They no longer have those X-ray machines in shoe stores so you can look at the bones in your feet as much as you want...
...Although ultrasound is an indispensable diagnostic tool, doctors worry about excessive exposure. "You walk a tight line about how much you want to scare people," says Dr. Laura Riley, director of labor and delivery at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and head of ACOG's obstetric-practice committee. "To the best of our knowledge, ultrasound is safe. Ultrasound that's done in a mall, where they don't know what the settings are on, may not be as safe...
...concerned about the proficiency of retail sonographers, who aren't supposed to provide medical diagnoses but sometimes do. Sonographers in doctors' offices take at least 18 months to get their licenses, whereas training requirements vary widely from retailer to retailer. "You want someone there who can actually interpret the ultrasound for you, so you don't go away either frightened by something you think you saw or, worse, reassured that things are fine when in fact there's something wrong," says Riley. Many an obstetrician has seen patients who have spent sleepless nights worrying after being told--incorrectly...