IS ULTRASOUND SCAN HARMFUL TO ZYGOTE (BABY IN THE WOMB)?

Modern days, technology has made it possible to virtually see the gender and appearance of zygote in it mother's womb. Medical scanners are capable of giving date range for labour which most times, predictions are correct.
Pregnancy scan is one of the most important task a pregnant mother must engage in during prenatal. Risks of miscarriage, position of placenta and condition of the baby in the womb will be reported by the scanner to keep the mother informed about what she may experience during labour and how to go about it.
Pregnancy scan is done trice during prenatal.


During the first trimester, the location of embryo is being monitored if it is in the womb or in the Fallopian tube.
The second trimester, pregnancy scan shows if the fetal structure such as the hands, legs, spines, eyes and other internal organs are growing.
The third trimester, scanner shows if the formation of zygote is perfect, placenta positioning also predict risks the mother may face during labour.

ULTRASOUND SCANNER

Scanning machines used for pregnant mothers are non-radioactive emitting scanners that is, they emit no radiant rather they use sound. Ultrasound scanner incident sounds of certain wavelength and frequency into the mother's womb. These sounds waves are reflected by contents in the body and then received by a receiver "in form of echo". Sounds received are then converted into understandable 2D and 3D images with a monitor screen in the laboratory.

Ultrasound scanner can be of various types depending on the kind of probe it has. These probes determines what use the ultrasound scanner is used for.

• Trans-vaginal and Trans-rectal probes: This probe is placed in the vagina for minutes and incidents sound waves into the body at high frequency. This shows high quality 2D or 3D images of the zygote in the womb.
• Linear Probes: This is also a high frequency emitting probe placed on the abdominal cavity emitting sounds into the body through the skin. It collect 2D images of zygote in the womb.
• Trans-abdominal probe: This probe functions like the linear probe but a lot wider than it. This probe send sound of low frequency into the body to collect 2D images.
• Phase array probes: This probe is a lot smaller than the linear probe, it can get images of organs between the ribs.

Ultrasound scanner is the best because it has no side effect on zygote. X-rays and CT rays are not allowed to be used on pregnant mothers because they emit radioactive radiant which affect the growth and formation of the baby adversely. Exposing zygote to radiant can cause cancerous growth in the baby (click here to learn more).