Ultrasound imaging: ″eyes″ in fetal medicine

doi:10.3877/cma.j.issn.1673-5250.2021.03.002

Fetal medicine is a multidisciplinary team collaboration platform. Among multiple-discipline participating in this platform, ultrasound imaging has become the preferred method for fetal imaging examination due to its advantages of safety, convenience, economy and real-time, and ultrasound imaging is the " eyes" in fetal medicine research. Fetal ultrasound diagnosis technology is a means of prenatal screening and diagnosis of fetal diseases, and its roles include prenatal screening and diagnosis of fetal birth defects, ultrasonic monitoring of fetal growth and development, ultrasonic monitoring of fetal intrauterine reserve capacity in utero, and ultrasonic diagnosis and monitoring of complex twins. In prenatal screening and diagnosis of fetal birth defects, ultrasound in the first trimester of pregnancy can be used to screen fetal chromosome aneuploidy, and relevant indicators mainly include nuchal translucency (NT) thickness. Prenatal diagnosis mainly refers to ultrasonic diagnosis of fetal structural malformations. The role of ultrasound examination in this field has been fully confirmed. Ultrasound-related prenatal diagnosis technologies also include ultrasound-guided fetal puncture and biopsy. New ultrasound technologies related to prenatal screening and diagnosis are developing rapidly, including three-dimensional volumetric ultrasound, microvascular imaging and elastography. Ultrasound plays an important role in fetal growth assessment and abnormal growth screening. Ultrasound monitoring of fetal intrauterine reserve capacity included Doppler ultrasonography of fetal umbilical artery, middle cerebral artery, and venous duct and other vessels as well as fetal biophysical score. Prenatal ultrasonography of complex twins includes judgment of chorionic properties of twins, standardized examination, diagnosis and classification of complex twins. Ultrasonic interventional technology is the medium of intrauterine treatment for fetus, which involves transamniotic cavity therapy, interventional therapy, surgical treatment, etc.. The author intends to elaborate on the value of ultrasound imaging it the establishment of fetal medicine platform and its latest development status.

Key words: Ultrasonography, prenatal, Echocardiography, Doppler, color, Embryonic and fetal development, Congenital abnormalities, Ultrasonography, interventional, Fetal therapies, Fetal medicine

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