Portable Ultrasound: Take It or Leave It?

on October 27, 2009 at 12:00 PM

Photo from GE

When I first heard the babies heartbeat, I wanted a heartbeat monitor. Then I thought, um, no, I could be spending that money on something much more needed.

Now I see there is an ultrasound scanner!

Well, it's coming soon.

The low-cost, portable ultrasound scanner is made by General Electric and is called Vscan. It's about the size of a cell phone. Not sure of the price yet, GE is just saying it's low cost.

And it's being called the stethoscope of the 21st Century.

For the average mom-to-be, it's probably a bit extravagant. I just thought it would be great to bring to a visit to relatives and have them all experience seeing the baby (in my case babies) in the womb.

But really, it can be an extremely useful tool -- it can help doctors when they travel to countries where ultrasounds aren't available and help make crucial decisions before birth and for other medical reasons.

Would you get a portable ultrasound machine for personal use?

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About the author Michele Zipp

loves vintage and will defend skinny jeans to the death though she is highly superstitious and "death" is probably a bad word choice. She has a touch of the hoarding disease and enjoys sleuthing, the worst reality shows, and wearing high heels, even at the playground. She's an AP mom of twins, slightly crunchy but with a pedicure.

Filed Under: take it or leave it

Comments (11)

KatieP.

on Oct 27, 2009 at 1:01 PM

Personally, no. But I am (in my opinion) super low risk, young, healthy, etc. If I were high risk or had miscarried before I would probably want one for the peace of mind...

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sodapple

on Oct 27, 2009 at 1:03 PM

as a gift i'll take anything, lol =-D

RanaAurora

on Oct 27, 2009 at 1:56 PM

Considering it's still debatable if ultrasounds can cause damage, but we KNOW they cause changes to brain structure over time (kids from pregnancies where 15+ ultrasounds were performed are more often left-handed), this kind of thing is a bad idea.

WHy don't I just get a home x-ray machine so I can see if my bone's broken before going to the ER? Oh... because it's medical equipment intended for use by a medical professional, with potential risks.

abelsmama07

on Oct 27, 2009 at 1:59 PM

a portable ultrasound for a doctor... awesome idea.

making something like this available to the public sounds like a disaster. ultrasound techs go to school to learn how to read ultrasounds. i can just imagine ob offices filling up with pregnant mothers freaking out because they used their portable ultrasound 12 times that day, and the babies heart wasn't beating, when indeed they were looking at the baby's foot. BAD IDEA

ethans_momma06

on Oct 27, 2009 at 3:09 PM

I think it will be an awesome awesome advancement for Drs. who need portability...as for home use...well I tend to agree with two posters before me-

Most ultrasound risks are unkown but we do know that there is some risk and definatly some side effects with increased use. If a mom has it at her fingertips...you can bet she's going to use it, which brings us to problem # 2...to many moms freaking out by not being able to intrepret what they are seeing (or not seeing) correctly.

Great idea but I think it's best left to people who actually know how to handle it.

kfroz0415

on Oct 27, 2009 at 4:35 PM

Awesome idea for doctors, BAD idea for general public.

This would be great for things like Docs without borders, or emergency delivery situations so the EMT/Dr can get a better look at what is going on in case there is a breech delivery or something like that.

Problem with any old Jane Doe getting her hands on one of these is they 9 times out of 10 are not going to be able to interpret everything they see properly and I think this would cause a jump in unnecessary ER or Dr. visits.

I can barely understand the home heartbeat deal because what the heartbeat monitor they buy is not the best and has a hard time detecting the baby's heartbeat depending on position, well then stressed and worry burdened mom. I know after my m/c I would love to be able to hear our next baby's heartbeat whenever I felt like it but I would also have to be careful to not obsess either. lol

LokisMama

on Oct 27, 2009 at 9:31 PM

I think it would be a great thing for midwives and such who do home visits and home births, just in case of an issue. But for the average consumer? No.

Mrs.Loeffel

on Oct 27, 2009 at 10:37 PM

that looks awesome! i think it would be really cool to have one! i wouldn't pay over $20 for it though lol...i'm cheap. So i voted "i would love it as a gift" :)

Landynsmom62609

on Nov 2, 2009 at 5:00 AM

RanaAurora I find it a little offensive that you say 15+ ultrasounds can lead to a change in brain structure how does that have anything to do with someone being left-handed? I am left-handed and I have no mental problems or learning disabilites.