What if every pregnant woman in the world had access to ultrasound technology to examine the health and development of their unborn child? That’s what engineers at Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, wondered.

They have developed a portable and easy-to-use ultra-low cost scanner that can be plugged into any computer or laptop to reveal this vital information. The hand-held USB device – about the size of a computer mouse – works in a similar way to existing ultrasound scanners, using pulses of high frequency sound to build up a picture of the unborn child on the computer screen.

However, unlike the technology used in most hospitals across the UK costing many thousands of dollars, the device they envision, can be manufactured for less than $65. The design keeps components and hardware costs to an absolute minimum, and works by manually sweeping a transducer over the skin while a focused image is formed by the PC software.

They hope that the device will be used to provide medical teams working in the world’s poorest and developing nations with basic, information that could save the lives of hundreds of thousands of women and children.

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