The method know as 3d ultrasound is used when a woman is in early pregnancy, it can provide 3d pictures of the fetus. Most of the time these pictures are rapidly captured and combined and animated to produce a 4d ultrasound scan.

Three dimensional scans works in a similar way to the normal scanning methods except that the ultrasound scanning waves are sent from multiple directions. The ultrasound pulses can be reflected back then captured to provide info to construct a 3d picture in in a similar manner to 3d movies. 3 dimesional ultrasound was started by stephen smith and olaf von ramm.

It is important to understand that sonologists everywhere have always pictured 3d images of the body in their minds while carrying out 2d scans. However, until recently it was almost impossibel to do this type of reconstruction on on patient information using ultasound scanning. With the introduction of baby scans for the first time allowed us a peek into the thinking of a sonologist and allowing us to reconstruct 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. There is no data to suggest any harm due to 3d ultasound scanning, its use in non-medical situations should be undertaken with an understanding of the risks that may exist.