Dawn of the New Millennium:
Notes on the Future of Ultrasound
A collage of quotations provided by sonographers and sonologists from around the world.

Diagnostic ultrasound technology has witnessed unprecedented advances in the last three decades. We now have good understanding of how ultrasound waves behave in the body, we have learned to harness the diagnostic information contained within the weakest of echoes, and have even devised techniques that challenge the natural limitations of sound behavior. Can we sustain such speed in development in the future as well? Will our technology continue to grow with the same leaps and bounds as it has in the last few decades? Is it even possible for these advances to accelerate further along an exponential curve?

I have sought a variety of opinions, predictions, comments, and reflections on the potential future advances by asking these questions. Following are the replies I have received. Only time will tell how far these predictions are from the truth. If you would also like to share your perspective, I would like to invite you to drop us an e-mail on the ultrasound forum: Ultrasound @OBGYN.net

"I foresee the development of a 3D Ultrasound Blanket. This would be a self-lubricating flexible blanket composed of thousands of ultrasound crystals. It would be applied to the entire area of scanning, and three-dimensional data of the entire region would be acquired. The sonographer would then enter a holographic chamber, put on virtual goggles and gloves, and essentially perform a virtual dissection of the patient."

-Martin Necas

"I think the ultimate stage with 3D imaging will be when the computer compares the fetal anatomy with a standard and when this falls outside the standard the 'sonographer' is alerted to examine the images. No-one needs to worry about being out of a job however, technological developments have a habit of increasing the quality of work output without decreasing the quantity!"

-David Hutchon

"The focus of ultrasound in the new millennium will graduate to the rotator cuff as more and more sonographers succumb to supraspinatus tendinitis."

-Mike Heath

"In my view, it will in the future be possible to get stunningly clear 3-D images of the fetus and indeed the entire abdomen on the ultrasound scan. Maybe, the quality of the images will compare with or even exceed, the resolution of even CT scan or MRI scans. All this will be available in even on the basic portable ultrasound machines. The pictures will show true to life colour"

-Joe Antony

"The most fundamental advance in obstetrics of the 20th century was the recognition of the fetus as a patient. This promise was made possible by ultrasonography. Now in a few but growing number of places, and generally in the new millennium, that promise and new weldenshaung of obstetrics will be fulfilled using ultrasonography."

-Jim Smeltzer

"In the 2000's I see ultrasound becoming what it seems to be evolving into - the stethoscope for the Ob-Gyn. Truly portable devices no larger than notebook computers already are in production and will be further refined to be used by practitioners in all settings. In the laboratory, 3D will become standard with I believe hardware - based technology winning over software - based systems. Expectant couples will no longer be satisfied with mere photos or videos of their fetuses. Instead, they will depart with a disk which when viewed with standard graphics software will produce a dancing hologram of the baby for all to see. Also, laboratories everywhere will be able to link up over the Net through satellite, cable, and other technology with transfer rates at least equal to satellite - feed television. Hey, it could happen!"

-Art Fougner