Thank you! I worked on the very first 3D ultrasound for GE Medical. It was a very fun program for my team. (GE contracted us to design a specific assembly within).
We had a fully functional prototype unit in the lab for testing but none of the engineers knew how use it in a meaningful way. The wife of one of the lab technicians was pregnant at the time and she agreed to come in for "science". Someone knew a medical Doctor who came into our lab to give a little instruction on using an ultrasound.
Picture this pregnant girl lying on a desk in an empty cubical with a team of engineers peeking over the cube walls. She was a good sport and humorous about the whole experience. Her reward was some of the most amazing screen captures of a perfect tiny infant inside her. We only had an idea how good the images were compared to what was the technology of the day but the good Doctor was completely blown away by what he could see and do with the new machine.
A very funny moment, the Dr asked the couple if they wanted to know "boy or girl?". They both instantly said no. Unfortunately the image clarity was so good in that region that it didn't take an anatomy expert to know that they would be having a son. Everyone was laughing and snickering like 5th graders.
Probably one of the most satisfying times for me in engineering.
Amazing story. Thank you for sharing.
Awesome! I’ve been fighting infertility and kicking its ass for 20 years, so I have lived through the heart beat detectable at 7 weeks then to 6 1/2 weeks then to 6 weeks. The images are amazing. I finally got to see 3d on my last. Very cool work, indeed. Thanks.