QUESTION: There are some problems with my newborn baby, and the doctor we use has advised us to allow examination of the baby's head with a machine that passes sound through the brain to make a picture.
We are concerned that this may make things worse since we have read that sound waves can kill.
Can you explain if this is a safe thing for us to do?
ANSWER: You didn't explain your baby's condition in your letter, but the fact that your own physician is advising you to undertake these procedures would indicate that there must be good reasons for them.
The good news is that the examination, utilizing a technique called sonography, is a very safe one, with no known harmful effects, and even more important, no pain to the child. These sound waves are quite different from the harmful ones you've read about, differing in both frequency and intensity, and there is no possible chance of changing them by mistake.
Sonography is particularly useful in children and can provide fine details of the anatomy of the area being evaluated.
There is no radiation either, as would be the case if x-rays were used.
The physicians are able to "see" the image as it is being created, and can move the instrument, called a transducer, in different directions, or can change the angle to get just the right picture they need to help discover the problem your child may have.
Since a baby's head is not fully formed or calcified, the examination uses the soft spots in the head, called fontanelles, as a location for the transducer, and thus can obtain the clearest possible pictures.
This can provide your physicians with an enormous amount of vital information necessary to diagnose your infant's ills in the shortest possible time and in a manner that is not the least traumatic to the infant.
The material contained here is "FOR INFORMATION ONLY" and should not replace the counsel and advice of your personal physician.
Promptly consulting your doctor is the best path to a quick and successful resolution of any medical problem.
