Japanese firm creates 3D model of fetus for pregnant women

New York: Expectant mothers can now show to their friends and relatives how their baby looks like while in her womb.

A Japanese firm is offering parents-to-be small, 3D replicas of fetuses made of two-colour acrylic resin. FASOTEC’s employee Tomohiro Kinoshita recently displayed a nine-month fetus and mother’s body image, created at the company’s headquarters in Chiba, suburban Tokyo. The 3.6-inch resin model of the white foetus, encased in a transparent block in the shape of the mother’s body, is fashioned by a 3D printer after an MRI scan. “As it is only once in a lifetime that you are pregnant with that child, we received requests for these kind of models from pregnant women who... do not want to forget the feelings and experience of that time,” the New York Daily News quoted Kinoshita as saying. The “Shape of an Angel” costs 100,000 yen (1,200 dollars) and comes with a miniature version that could be attached to a cellphone strap, he added. The ideal time for a scan is around eight or nine months into the pregnancy, according to the company. FASOTEC’s employee Tomohiro Kinoshita recently displayed a nine-month fetus and mother’s body image, created at the company’s headquarters in Chiba, suburban Tokyo. The 3.6-inch resin model of the white foetus, encased in a transparent block in the shape of the mother’s body, is fashioned by a 3D printer after an MRI scan. “As it is only once in a lifetime that you are pregnant with that child, we received requests for these kind of models from pregnant women who... do not want to forget the feelings and experience of that time,” the New York Daily News quoted Kinoshita as saying. The “Shape of an Angel” costs 100,000 yen (1,200 dollars) and comes with a miniature version that could be attached to a cellphone strap, he added. The ideal time for a scan is around eight or nine months into the pregnancy, according to the company. ANI