[blparent] 3-D sonograms

[Bridgit Pollpeter]

While I was pregnant, during sonogram appointments, which I had
frequently since I had a high-risk pregnancy, they always took 3-D
sonograms. Ross, who has RP,  was actually able to see Declan with these
sonograms. And before I lost my vision, my sister had paid to have a 3-D
sonogram of her son ten years ago, and I saw it. It's pretty clear, and
unlike the fuzzy, grainy traditional sonograms, it looks like you're
viewing a picture of an actual baby.

Bridgit
Message: 14
Date: Wed, 17 Apr 2013 11:12:21 -0400
From: Hai Nguyen Ly <gymnastdave at sbcglobal.net>
To: Blind Parents Mailing List <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Subject: [blparent] 3D sonograms let blind expectant parents "see"
	their	babies
Message-ID: <B9C553CB-91C5-4401-86A2-CAEDCB896F64 at sbcglobal.net>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset=windows-1252



http://io9.com/3d-sonograms-let-blind-expectant-parents-see-their-ba-472
999403

3D sonograms let blind expectant parents "see" their babies


Jorge Roberto Lopes dos Santos, an industrial designer with the
Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia in Brazil, is giving doctors a new way
to print sonograms for their patients ? as life-size replicas.

The prenatal sonogram is a life-changing moment for many expectant
parents, giving rise to the inherent value these images hold whether as
printouts passed among family members or posts on social media.

It?s one of the joyous benchmarks of pregnancy, but one that has been
elusive to the visually impaired. Innovations in 3D printing, however,
could change that.

Dos Santos's company, Tecnologia Humana 3D, has been developing new ways
to build three-dimensional computer models using data from sonograms and
other imaging techniques after initially setting out to enhance prenatal
diagnostic tools.

SExpand

The work took a new direction when dos Santos realized that printing
these models would give visually impaired mothers-to-be a chance to meet
their babies in utero.

?We work mainly to help physicians when there is some eventual
possibility of malformation,? dos Santos said. ?We also work for parents
who want to have the models of their fetuses in 3D.?

Tecnologia Humana designs the models with sophisticated programs that
produce highly detailed simulations of a fetus? anatomy that doctors can
examine virtually.

They can swoop through the lungs and explore the cavities of the heart
in search of problems that may require intervention. Prior journeys have
found Down syndrome and cleft lip, dos Santos said in a recent paper.

Making a tangible model of a fetus requires one other step ? plugging
that data into a 3D printer, a device that can create objects by laying
down successive layers of material.

SExpand

Neva Fairchild, the resident expert on independent living at the
American Foundation for the Blind, said the models would also benefit
visually impaired family members looking to share in the experience of
seeing their loved one?s unborn child for the first time.

A model would allow people with impaired vision to know the size of a
fetus while giving them a new appreciation of those tiny toes and
fingers. Fairchild, who is legally blind and can only discern shapes and
shadows, speaks from experience.

?Fifteen months ago, my first grandchild was born and they had numerous
sonograms and I missed out on all of that,? she said.

Fairchild said it?s important, however, for the producers of these
models to keep cost in mind. Many recent inventions designed to aid the
visually impaired are too expensive for the people they?re meant to
help, and most insurance policies are reluctant to cover these kinds of
expenses, she said.

But dos Santos said his reliance on common imaging techniques, such as
the MRI and the CT scan, keeps costs relatively low ? about $200 for a
full model of a fetus at 12 weeks, and about $300 for the face and arms
of a fetus at 24 weeks.