Ultrasound techs have found themselves in the news in recent years, not only for the vast accomplishments in the field but also for the speculation and rumors that have come alongside the advances in technology. We live in an era where we think everything can give us cancer, ebola, or a common cold, and it is no wonder that we now believe ultrasounds to be hazardous to our health. The first sensational news-story regarding ultrasounds emerged a few years ago when Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes purchased their own in-house ultrasound machine, complete with an ultrasound tech. The medical community and several doctors voiced outrage at this purchase, spouting warnings that sonograms and ultrasounds are dangerous to the fetus and should only be used when medically necessary. But if all this is true, why is it common knowledge that women should receive ultrasounds as soon as they find out their pregnant, and why is it socially acceptable to subject your baby to these “harmful” UV rays to simply find out if they are male or female?
Hidden deep within the confines of medical journals is the truth about ultrasounds – They can be dangerous if they are given to a patient excessively. Ultrasound techs manipulate their machines to send vibrations into the body and sometimes these vibrations are absorbed by the body instead of bouncing back. The “bouncing back” vibrations create a moving image of the fetus, although the trapped vibrations can create a pocket of trapped gas, a bubble which can seriously damage internal organs. So why do we take this risk with our bodies and our new babies? While doctors insisted that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes were committing irreversible damage to their baby, there has been relatively few studies done on the dangers of ultrasounds, and the few studies that have been completed do little to suggest that there is any immediate harm caused by ultrasound techs.
It’s no surprise that ultrasounds affect human tissue – we’ve known for a while that it heats up our inner tissues which is why it’s applied in physical therapy. However, there have been contradictory studies indicating any negative side effects of ultrasounds over the years; regardless of the positive side effects, doctors do attempt to limit the number of ultrasounds pregnant women receive, which was the main rationale of the backlash against Tom Cruise. At the time, it was unclear what type of ultrasound machine Cruise was using, whether he equipped the machine with an ultrasound tech, and to what degree the machine was being used on Katie Holmes.
While there was speculation that Cruise was breaking FDA law by keeping an ultrasound machine in his house and therefore operating it under a nonmedical purpose, it appears that his baby was born without any (obvious) birth defects and Cruise is not in any danger of being arrested for his use of the machine. Ultrasound machines continue to be a source of controversy since we still do not know all the risks involved in their use, but thus far it appears that most babies are born without any long-lasting side effects from the machine and early detection of any abnormalities does more good than bad in the long run.