From first concepts to diasonograph: the role of product design in the first medical obstetrics ultrasound machines in 1960’s Glasgow

In the late 1950s and early-to-mid 1960s, Glasgow led the world in the development of diagnostic obstetric ultrasound technology, the result of fortuitous collaboration between key individuals advancing the application of an industrial technology. Originally used to detect flaws in metal pressure vessels, the obstetrician Ian Donald, during his military service, reflected on how ultrasound could benefit his own field. Donald involved the engineer Tom Brown to realise this technically who, in turn, employed a young graduating industrial designer, Dugald Cameron, to improve the design, aesthetic and ergonomic sense of these early engineering apparatus. While previous accounts of these developments have rightly celebrated the medical, technical engineering and imaging achievements of this innovate technology, the discussion of the role of the creative design expertise which addressed serious ergonomic, aesthetic and production manufacturing shortcomings of the first prototypes has been less coherent. This article relates, through key drawings, extracts from witness statements and discussions with Cameron himself, the key design decisions and features resulting in the Sunden and Diasonograph machines, the latter being the world’s first commercial production-series obstetric ultrasound machine, deployed in Glasgow hospitals and beyond.