To its proponents, the ultrasound scanner is a safe, trustworthy, and important aid to medical diagnosis. In some U.S. states, an ultrasound scan is now needed by legislation before a lady can acquire an abortion, adding a new measurement to an already questionable practice. Imaging and Thinking of the Fetus engages both the advancement of a modern-day medical innovation and the concerted critique of that technology. The authors relate the technical and social history of ultrasound imaging-from early experiments in Glasgow in 1956 through broad deployment in the British hospital system by 1975 to its ubiquitous use in maternity clinics throughout the industrialized world by the end of the twentieth century. Obstetrician Ian Donald and engineer Tom Brown developed ultrasound technology in Glasgow, where their prototypes were based on the commercial defect detector, an instrument easily available to them in the shipbuilding city. As a doctor, Donald supported using ultrasound for scientific functions, and as a devout High Anglican he imbued the images with ethical significance. He opposed abortion-decisions about which were increasingly guided by the ultrasound technology he originated – and he occasionally used ultrasound images to persuade pregnant females not to terminate the fetuses they might now see. This book explores why earlier innovators stopped working where Donald and Brown prospered. It likewise shows how ultrasound turned into a black box innovation whose users can completely appreciate the images they produce and have no need to comprehend the innovation. These pictures of the fetus may be produced by makers but they live strongly in the human imagination.
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