Biological Effect of Modern Fetal Ultrasound Techniques on Human Dermal Fibroblast Cells

Background: Diagnostic ultrasound has been used to detect human disease especially fetus abnormalities in recent decades. Although the harmful effects of diagnostic ultrasound on human have not been established so far, several researchers showed it has had bioeffects in cell lines and in experimental animals. Three-dimensional (3D), four-dimensional (4D), and color Doppler sonography are new techniques which are widely used in diagnostic fetal ultrasonography.

Objective: The study aims to evaluate some bioeffects of 3D, 4D, and color Doppler sonography in different exposure times according to the acoustic output which is set as ultrasound scanner's default for fetal sonography in the second trimester on human dermal fibroblast (HDF) cells.

Material and methods: Exposure times selected consist of 10, 40, 70, and 100 seconds for 3D sonography, 10, 20, and 30 minutes for 4D sonography, and 10, 30, and 50 seconds for color Doppler. Cell viability, cell proliferation, and apoptosis induction on HDF cells were assessed using MTT assay, immunocytochemistry of Ki-67, and Terminal Transferase-mediated dUTP End-labeling (TUNEL) assay, respectively.

Results: Exposure of cells to 3D, 4D, and color Doppler modes led to decreased cell viability and increased proliferation rate of HDF. None of the diagnostic ultrasound modes induced cell apoptosis. .

Conclusion: The results indicated that 3D, 4D, and color Doppler techniques may affect the cell viability and proliferation of HDF cells, however, have no effects on the induction of apoptosis probability. Further long-term studies with other molecular endpoints are required.