Ultrasound Pioneer Says Redesign Will Prevent Staff Strain Injury

MEDICAL staff who use ultrasound equipment need more help to avoid injury as demand for the scans grows, one of the Scottish pioneers of the technology said yesterday.

Up to 80 per cent of the staff – known as sonographers – are thought to suffer injuries linked to the physical nature of their work, which often requires them to lean and bend over pregnant patients for long periods.

Now Tom Brown, who along with Professor John MacVicar and Professor Ian Donald helped develop the technology in the 1950s, wants to revisit the invention to see if changes can be made to reduce injuries.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of the world’s first paper on ultrasound scanning in pregnancy at Glasgow University.

Tomorrow the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in London will mark the anniversary with a commemorative meeting.

Mr Brown, from Burntisland, Fife, is among those speaking at the event, where he will highlight the current problems suffered by sonographers which could be contributing to a shortage of ultrasound staff.

Earlier this month The Scotsman revealed that four health boards in Scotland were still not routinely offering a second ultrasound scan during pregnancy, despite recommendations published four years ago.

A shortage of adequately trained staff was said to be part of the reason for the service not being offered universally.

Mr Brown, 74, said: “There is quite a body of evidence that suggests that about 80 per cent of sonographers suffer from some kind of injury related to their work. About 20 per cent are forced to give upcompletely because of their injury.

“It is a physical job.”

As a young technician, Mr Brown worked on the development of the ultrasound machinery, which began as a static probe suspended over the patient.

In the 1970s, the physical design changed to a hand-held probe. This has remained the standard design since.

But Mr Brown said the leaning, bending and pushing required of sonographers – sometimes doing up to 20 scans a day – meant they could be injured.

“If you are just doing it once, you are probably not going to experience an injury. But … hour after hour, day after day, in a very pressurised environment, then it is not going to be long before you start to suffer.”

Mr Brown is now hoping to work with a university to look into ways the design could be changed to help staff.

This could range from simple changes to the machinery to a more complex robotic arm.