Science/Tech
New MRI Scan Of Unborn Babies In The Womb Shows Baby Kicking, Smiling, and Wiggling
One of this year's greatest technology advancements has been released online. The amazing video is one of the first in the world to use algorithms, magnetic fields and radio waves to create extra-high quality images of a baby foetus.
It is so detailed you can clearly see the 20-week-old baby playing with its umbilical cord. You can clearly see how it stretches its arms in the womb and how it turns it head from side to side according to The Press and Journal.
The footage also shows the baby's small heart beating in the scan. The video scan ends with the baby giving its mother a strong kick with both legs. This caused the mother's belly to wobble.
Mirror reported the video was captured by the iFIND project. It is a London-based group of medical experts from around the world who have made the world-first tech. They aim to improve ante-natal scans for all mothers-to-be.
"Taking pictures of a 20 week fetus while they're still in the womb really isn't that easy," said Dr David Lloyd, Clinical Researcher at King's College London and part of the iFIND project. Especially that the baby at this age is very small. The fetal heart is only about 15mm long, less than the size of a penny.
Lloyd said fetal ultrasound scans are fairly good for routine antenatal scans. The images produced can be excellent but not for all. He added "Ultrasound has to be able to see through the body to the parts of the baby we want to image, and that isn't always easy."
MRIs however, use a strong magnetic field and radio waves to produce better images. It can see through bone, muscle or fat that is in the way. It can give more detailed images than ultrasound and is also a safe imaging technique for pregnancy.
Wellcome Trust and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council gave the team with $12.5 million (£10 million) to develop new scans. It has been found to be the most cutting-edge scan available to date.
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