Jens Bang
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The Modern Laboratory
Jens Bang
A Danish doctor who taught needles to follow the ultrasound picture, from the womb to the ovary.
Early sound pictures. Jens Bang was one of the founders of obstetric ultrasound in Denmark. In the 1960s he worked with Hans Henrik Holm at Gentofte Hospital near Copenhagen. In 1968 the pair reported seeing the heartbeat of a fetus by ultrasound from ten weeks of pregnancy.
Following the needle. Bang saw early that a needle should be guided by the ultrasound picture. In 1972, with Allen Northeved, he described a new ultrasonic method for amniocentesis, using a transducer with a hole in its centre for the needle. In 1982 he and his colleagues reported the first ultrasound-guided blood transfusion into a vein of an unborn baby with severe rhesus disease. The technique is now used around the world.
Rigshospitalet. As a senior doctor in Copenhagen, Bang took part in a large Danish trial of the risks of amniocentesis in 4,606 women, published in 1986. He worked on early amniocentesis into the 1990s. Suzan Lenz developed ultrasound-guided egg collection for IVF in his unit, and in 1986 the two published together on collecting eggs through the bladder and the womb.
Also see: Suzan Lenz
About the sources
- Kristensen SE, et al. Invasiv behandling af fostre i Danmark. Ugeskrift for Laeger 2025;(9):V10240751 (abstract via University of Copenhagen research portal): senior physician Jens Bang performed the world's first ultrasound-guided intravenous fetal blood transfusion in 1982.
- Bang J, Bock JE, Trolle D. Ultrasound-guided fetal intravenous transfusion for severe rhesus haemolytic disease. British Medical Journal 1982 (PubMed 6800464).
- Campbell S. A short history of sonography in obstetrics and gynaecology. Facts, Views and Vision in ObGyn 2013;5(3):213–229: Bang and Holm, fetal heartbeat from 10 weeks (1968); Bang's transducer with a central hole for amniocentesis; Lenz “from Jens Bang's unit”.
- Joseph Woo, “A short history of the development of ultrasound in obstetrics and gynecology”, Gentofte page (ob-ultrasound.net/gentofte.html): Bang's collaboration with Holm at Gentofte Hospital from about 1964.
- Bang J, Holm HH. Ultrasonics in the demonstration of fetal heart movements. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 1968;102:956–960.
- Bang J, Northeved A. A new ultrasonic method for transabdominal amniocentesis. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 1972;114:599–601.
- Tabor A, Philip J, Madsen M, Bang J, Obel EB. Randomised controlled trial of genetic amniocentesis in 4606 low-risk women. Lancet 1986 (PubMed 2423826).
- Lenz S, Bang J. Transvesical/transuterine collection of oocytes by ultrasound. Journal of In Vitro Fertilization and Embryo Transfer 1986;3(4):259–260.
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Compiled with AI-assisted research and checked against the original sources. Not yet peer-reviewed. Corrections are warmly welcomed.
