Pittsburgh Company Introduces Technology Enabling Moms-to-Be to Share 4D Ultrasounds Anywhere in World

A pregnant woman is awaiting the birth of her baby while her husband is stationed in Iraq. Or, maybe, her grandparents live in Europe, or her best friend from college lives on the west coast.

In the past, there was no feasible way for a mother to share her pregnancy experience with friends and family members who live far away. However, a Pittsburgh company is now changing that.

This month, Insight Imaging, Inc., a Pittsburgh-based, 3D/4D elective ultrasound imaging center, is introducing a new, state-of-the-art service that enables a secure, remote video transmission of an ultrasound scan in Pittsburgh to a husband's, relative's or friend's computer anywhere in the world.

This service, known as 4D Ultrashare, has been installed at Insight Imaging's center on Old William Penn Highway in Monroeville. The center—which provides elective ultrasound imaging services to parents-to-be from Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, New York and Maryland—was the first center of its kind in Western Pennsylvania and the only one to offer long-distance transmittal of moving, full-color ultrasound images.

New, Proprietary Technology
The proprietary technology was developed by Joe Psiuk, CEO of InnerView Ultrasound in Malvern PA (near Philadelphia), who recently introduced the service at his center. It converts the live video feed of the ultrasound session into a format that can be transmitted over the Internet to virtually any broadband-connected, Windows-based PC. The video feed is password protected to secure clients' privacy, and is transmitted over a secure internet connection.

Following successful use at InnerView facility, Insight Imaging is one of only a few ultrasound imaging centers in the U.S. to offer the service. The cost for the remote video transmission is $50.00 in addition to the price of the ultrasound package selected by the client.

"Pregnancy is an important time for women," says Henriette Clark, a registered diagnostic medical sonographer (RDMS) and former hospital sonographer who founded Insight Imaging 18 months ago and serves as the company's president. "My desire is to provide services and resources to women to help them maximize and celebrate their prenatal experience."

She adds that, "Expectant mothers want to share their experience with family and friends. Unfortunately, for many, family and friends are often separated by many miles and living in other parts of the country or even overseas. Pregnancy can be a particularly difficult for military families when the babies' fathers are not able to experience this time with their wives."

For this reason, she has established a special, discounted arrangement for military wives.

"Given the number of people in our area with spouses serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom, as well as those with family members across the United States and in other countries, I believe this will be a much appreciated and well-used service."

About Insight Imaging
Established in 2005, Insight Imaging, located at 4290 Old William Penn Highway in Monroeville, PA, is western Pennsylvania's first elective 3D/4D ultrasound Imaging center and a member of the Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography (SDMS). All scans at Insight Imaging are performed by professionals who are appropriately trained and credentialed professionals as recommended by The American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM). Also, extensive studies have determined that 3D/4D ultrasound has not been shown to cause any harm to mother or baby.