Ultrasound as a medium of communication

Abstract

Following Watzlawick's general theory of human communication, ultrasound is evaluated using the categories syntax, semantics and pragmatics. Material for this survey mainly comes from routine scanning in pregnancy care. It can be shown that the criteria mentioned above may well be applied, since ultrasound has a number of similarities with mass media. Consequences of this outlook in terms of doctor-patient relationship, determining the sex of the child, and prenatal diagnosis of fetal malformations are discussed.