North County Standout: New ultrasound service provides unique look

By: JESSICA MUSICAR - For the North County Times | Friday, January 23, 2004 9:11 PM PST ∞

VISTA ---- While visiting her doctor for a routine ultrasound procedure, a very pregnant Nancy Tabarez learned of a new way to see her unborn child.

The technician who performed the procedure gave Tabarez a pamphlet for Ultrasound Assistance and 3D Imaging, a service that provides high resolution ultrasounds that produce color photos as well as video of the fetus as it moves inside the womb.

The Anaheim resident jumped at the idea, and several weeks later, traveled to Vista to try out this new technology.

Rather than the ambiguous image on a black-and-white screen that comes with the traditional ultrasound, she was able to easily make out the baby's face, hands, feet and legs, Tabarez said.

"I was so emotional ---- I almost cried just seeing her," Tabarez said of the experience.

Owned and operated by Jesse Perry and Jamie Hay, the small business is a staffing service that provides ultrasound technicians for various hospitals and clinics throughout San Diego and Orange counties.

In the past year, Perry and Hay added 3-D and 4-D imaging to their practice, giving expectant mothers and their families a new way to bond with an unborn child. Three-dimensional images are still shots, whereas 4-Ds add the element of time and motion.

Ultrasound Assistance offers several packages for their customers, such as the "Golden Baby Cup" package that includes a VHS tape of the ultrasound, a CD-Rom, gender identification if requested and several photographs. Other packages also include a DVD. The packages range from $140 to $235.

Hay said one benefit of this procedure is it allows patients to send photos or a video of the baby to family members who are out of state or to a husband who is overseas.

To conduct the ultrasound, a client is placed in the scanning room where she lies down on a bed facing a flat-screen television. On her right, a specially designed ultrasound machine takes a sonograph with the help of a technician. Using a volume probe, the machine gathers data from three plains that it then compiles and forms into an image. It gathers information so quickly that it can also produce a video of the fetus. Each ultrasound includes a mini diagnostic to check for any complications.

For Vista resident Karleen Harp, who is expecting twins, the experience gave her a chance to see her babies as individuals.

"You could see so much personality in the babies. My daughter was sucking her thumb and my son was holding his hands behind his head ---- that is something both my 2-year-old son and husband do," she said.

The high resolution, moving images are made possible by a technology developed two or three years ago. General Electric Medical Systems is one of the leading producers of these machines, which generally cost $100,000.

Perry opened Ultrasound as a one-man operation in 1989, after working for another ultrasound company in San Diego. In 1992, he met Hay and asked her to join the business as his partner, which she eventually did in 1998.

Two years ago, while attending a convention in Colorado, Hay saw a 3-D ultrasound machine and convinced Perry to purchase one. Since then, the business has upgraded to provide 4-D and now conducts about 50 multidimensional ultrasounds a month. Hay said they grossed $1.509 million in 2003.

"This is something that is growing inside of you, it's part of you. And now you have a moment to see your baby before it is born," Tabarez said.

Standout Facts

Name: Ultrasound Assistance & 3D Imaging

Address: 973 Vale Terrace, Suite 102, Vista

Phone: (760) 414-9419

Web site: 3dultrasounds.com

Established: 1989

Services: Three-dimensional and 4-dimensional ultrasounds and diagnostics, as well as an ultrasound technician staffing service for hospitals and clinics

Employees: 22

Size: 1,000-square-foot office space and 400-square-foot scanning room

Sales: $1.509 million for 2003

Jessica Musicar is a frequent contributor to the North County Times. Contact her at gwyllion@aol.com.