AMHERST, N.Y. (Wednesday, June 30, 2004) - Kaleida Health is revolutionizing prenatal testing in Western New York with the addition of their new "3D/4D" ultrasound machine at Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital.

The GE Voluson 730 ultrasound system uses an advanced technique called Spatial Temporal Image Correlation (STIC) to gather a volume of data that allows clinicians to create detailed three-dimensional images of the heart that can be viewed in the fourth-dimension: real-time motion.

These images allow doctors to visualize an entire fetal heart cycle from start to finish, including the workings of the heart chambers, the fluttering of the heart valves, and the flow of blood in the heart and its vessels.

"The 4D ultrasound is improving our ability to discover heart defects in utero," said Bruce Rodgers, M.D., FACOG. "This technology allows clinicians who do not specialize in heart care to see more detail and more easily evaluate the anatomy, which may improve our overall detection rate of heart defects before birth."

Congenital heart defects are the most common of all birth defects, and they are a major cause of infant death.

Dr. Rodgers added, "This is because newborns' heart defects are often not identified before birth. Mother and child are sent home with no suspicion of a problem, and only when the baby becomes ill does the problem come to light. Emergency surgery is then often required to save the child's life."

For many years, ultrasound, which creates clinical images using high-frequency sound waves, has been a safe and effective way to assess the health of a fetus.

However, a fetal heart has been one of the most difficult organs to image because of its size and constant motion. At the 14th week of pregnancy, for example, the fetal heart is about the size of half a pea, and it beats approximately 160 times per minute, more than twice as fast as an adult's heart. In addition, a fetus moves unpredictably - scanning the heart is like aiming at a moving target.

The Voluson 730 ultrasound system, a $150,000 capital investment, enables clinicians to make a real-time assessment of the fetal heart during the exam, and/or save the data for future assessment.

The new technology also allows clinicians to use ultrasound images to navigate through the heart, view images from different angles and run the images at actual speed, or in slow-motion, to evaluate the vessels and blood flow.

Usually, 4D fetal heart ultrasound exams are performed on high-risk patients or if a traditional prenatal ultrasound study, or some other information, indicates a possible heart condition.

If the 4D ultrasound STIC exam indicates a condition, doctors can advise the mother on changes in prenatal behavior that may reduce risk to the fetus, and create a treatment plan to correct the problem after birth.