Expectant parents who cannot wait to hold their new child can now buy a three-dimensional model of the foetus to cradle and show friends.
Japanese inventors have devised a way to transform the commonplace ultrasound scan into an anatomically correct resin replica for parents to handle and keep as a memento.
The nine-centimetre (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.
FASOTEC, the company offering the 'Shape of an Angel' model, even offers parents a miniature version which could be a 'nice adornment to a mobile phone strap or key chain.'
Tomohiro Kinoshita, of FASOTEC, said: '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 'Shape of an Angel' costs 100,000 yen (or around £760), and the company said the ideal time for a scan is around eight or nine months into the pregnancy.
The company also offers the acrylic resin scan as a small charm 'perfect for hanging from a mobile phone or key chain'
The company also offers the acrylic resin scan as a small charm 'perfect for hanging from a mobile phone or key chain'
For those who would like a less pricey version, the company will start offering a 3D model of the face of the foetus at 50,000 yen - £380 - in December.
It will use ultrasound images taken at a medical clinic in Tokyo that has forged a tie-up with the company.
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