Researchers work on low-cost ultrasound imaging

Newcastle University engineers have developed an ultra-low cost ultrasound scanner that can be plugged into any computer to show images of an unborn baby. The hand-held USB device, roughly the size of a computer mouse, works similar to existing ultrasound scanners, using pulses of high frequency sound to create an image on a screen.

The scanner, created by Jeff Neasham and research associate Dave Graham of Newcastle University, can be manufactured for as little as ￡30 to ￡40, unlike the ultrasound devices used in most UK hospitals, which cost from ￡20,000-￡100,000.

The device was tested by experts in the Regional Medical Physics Department at the Freeman Hospital, part of Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The scanner was able to produce an output power 10-100 times lower than conventional ultrasound devices.