Ian Donald

Ian Donald (27 December 1910 to 19 June 1987) was an English physician who pioneered the diagnostic use of ultrasound in obstetrics, making it possible to see abnormalities during pregnancy. He was born in Cornwall to a Scottish family of physicians, was educated in Scotland and South Africa, and studied medicine at the University of London from 1930, becoming the third generation of doctors in his family. In the Second World War he served as a Royal Air Force medical officer and developed an interest in radar and sonar. In 1952 he used what he had learned in the RAF to build a respirator for newborn babies with breathing problems, and at Hammersmith Hospital he developed the Trip Spirometer to measure a neonate's respiratory efficiency and, in 1953, a positive-pressure respirator known as the Puffer. In 1954 he became Regius Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Glasgow. There he worked with the industrial engineer Tom Brown of Kelvin Hughes, and their collaboration produced a series of instruments for examining the unborn child with ultrasound, culminating in the world's first obstetric ultrasound machine in 1963, the Diasonograph. Donald also secured the building of the Queen Mother's Maternity Hospital beside the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow.

Ian Donald (27 December 1910 to 19 June 1987) was an English physician who pioneered the diagnostic use of ultrasound in obstetrics, making it possible to see abnormalities during pregnancy. He was born in Cornwall to a Scottish family of physicians, was educated in Scotland and South Africa, and studied medicine at the University of London from 1930, becoming the third generation of doctors in his family. In the Second World War he served as a Royal Air Force medical officer and developed an interest in radar and sonar. In 1952 he used what he had learned in the RAF to build a respirator for newborn babies with breathing problems, and at Hammersmith Hospital he developed the Trip Spirometer to measure a neonate's respiratory efficiency and, in 1953, a positive-pressure respirator known as the Puffer. In 1954 he became Regius Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Glasgow. There he worked with the industrial engineer Tom Brown of Kelvin Hughes, and their collaboration produced a series of instruments for examining the unborn child with ultrasound, culminating in the world's first obstetric ultrasound machine in 1963, the Diasonograph. Donald also secured the building of the Queen Mother's Maternity Hospital beside the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/