New technology creates life-size models of preborn children
The UK’s Daily Mail reported June 26 on exciting new technology developed by a Royal College of Art doctoral student.
This could have an even greater impact on humanizing preborn children than ultrasounds. This is truly amazing, and the prospects for it to help save preborn human lives are mind-blowing:
Now pregnant women could have the chance to hold a life-size model of their unborn baby….
Brazilian student Jorge Lopes has pioneered the conversion of data from ultrasound and MRI scans into life-size plaster models of living embryos using a method called rapid prototyping.
‘It’s amazing to see the faces of the mothers. They can see the full scale of their baby, really understand the size of it,’ said Dr Lopes….
A good way of understanding how rapid protoyping works is to imagine a printer that prints plastic powder instead of ink. Then as it prints layer up layer it slowly builds up a 3D model.
[Images above are of an 18-week preborn.]
Aine Duffy from the RCA said: ‘It’s stunning technology – here at the RCA we use it for everything from new medical devices, to car components, to jewelry, to architectural models.’….
[Lopes’] supervisor, King’s College head of obstetrics Stuart Campbell, called the invention ‘absolutely unique’ and ‘a fantastic development’.
Professor Campbell, who pioneered the use of ultrasound in the 1980s, also hoped the technology would help mothers – blind mothers in particular – to bond with their babies….
[Images above are of an 21-week preborn.]
Dr. Lopes… had begun his research by looking at how model-making had been used in practical ways over the centuries….
He started with mummies, then moved on to dinosaurs, then foetuses – leaving friends joking he had gone from ‘mummies to mummies’.
His work uses the latest computer techniques first exhibited by Ron Arad… one of the most famous designers in the world and the head of design products at the RCA, [who] called Dr Lopes’ work a ‘ground-breaking new field of world importance’.
The model, right, is of a 12-week-old preborn. This is the age most babies are aborted.
Just imagine if a mother could hold a true-to-size model of the actual baby she is considering aborting. We’ve known by ultrasound that these babies are much more fully developed than previously understood (i.e., certainly not blobs of tissue). This is truly a new breakthrough for the pro-life movement. See more amazing photos at story link.
[Photo attributions: dailymail.co.uk]
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
Very cool!
Amazing!! Wish I had had that opportunity!! Can you imagine putting the model with the baby memorabilia?? I love it!!
I heard of this awhile back, actually. This would be extremely helpful in personalizing and humanizing the unborn. Now all we have to do is make it affordable.
WOW. Let’s get Fox news on this immediately.
Write to either Laura Ingrahm (she could talk about it on her radio show) or Bill OReilley (maybe he could have the model maker on his show).
This is amazing.
The “little one” models are pretty effective, too. This is just a more realistic model.
It’s so cute…he (or she) is yawning!
Restoration to humanity, babies, here we come! :)
This is really useful for anyone, not just someone considering abortion. Pro-life should be willing to look into the future, when abortion has long been gone, and how this can help men and women who are not even facing a crisis pregnancy.
I mean, I’m not pregnant (nor have I ever been pregnant), but it seems like such a touching image, like a child is new and things are hopeful again. That’s good for everyone. :)!!!
Absolutely beautiful! This can save lives!
What can save lives in people taking time out of their life to help woman who are runaways and abuse victims. Put yourself in this situation:
You were abused all of your life, raped many times, and you are 17. You are scared since you are a runaway and you know there are people looking for you. And you are preganant. Lets get to the root of the problem people. I guarantee you that the large majority of women getting abortions are not going to have the priveldge of seeing something like this. It is almost crazy to say that this will stop abortion. No woman wants to lose her baby people. She has no choice. Something led her to a clinic and it most certaintly wasn’t not seeing an artwork of the fetus. No woman wants to leave her baby behing and noone really does. Every woman that has an abortion lives with a quiet emptiness in her head and a heart that will never be mended. Haven’t any of you been to PASS support boards? Thousands of women on there that cry for their babies and live with problems everday. Why don’t we take that to congress? Whey not help women who are hurting end the suffering.
testing
Brenda,..unsure if you know this, but Google: Project Rachel and Project Gabriel.
As for the Technology, it’s really awesome… but…unfortunately, that printer would be very,very slow and would take hours to “print” the image…we still need people on the ground to really convince women to consider another option.
This is great. But, the day when it might be readily available is probably a long way off. For this to be viable the cost would need to be reasonable, and some business would have to make the technology to do this commercially available so that it could be purchased by medical offices and pregnancy resource centers.
I’m sure there are still many PRC’s that do not have 3D or 4D ultrasounds because of the cost and the difficulty of raising money. Not trying to be negative, just realistic.
TLC (The Learning Channel) has a new TV series called “I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant”. Stories of women who didn’t know they were pregnant until they gave birth. It’s on right now…
Brenda: My local Catholic social services is getting ready to build a place for pregnant women who are vulnerable, many victims of abuse, so they aren’t forced or pressured to abort. Hopefully many women will be helped.
Hi Liz,
That’s great news! What is the name of the group. Do they have a website?
Imagine how powerful of a tool this could be for sidewalk counseling, at PRCs, or even accompnying prenatal development displays at fairs, museums, etc!
Brenda, I’m pro-life and I’m actually a regular member at the PASS Support Boards. Indeed, I’ve seen women there who were coercered, women who felt they had no choice due to social-economic circumstances, women with a poor prenatal diagnosis, women who were the victim of rape, and women with severe morning sickness and
I feel nothing but sympathy and their experiences reinforce my views that 1)We need to address the underlying socio-economic issues which drive women to abort 2)we need to hold men responsible for their role in sex & reproduction