Should you fall pregnant, you may well have the chance to hold a life-size, true-to-form model of your unborn baby. This comes after an invention that converts data from ultrasound and MRI scans to create  replicas.

Jorge Lopes, a Brazilian designer, uses 3-D printing technology to create the plaster models. The invention has already attracted the attention of medical experts, despite being in early stages.00

The technology is being trialled at a clinic in Rio de Janeiro, where a blind woman has volunteered to try out the technology at her next scan.

It is thought that the technology could be used as an educational tool for expectant parents and to help mothers who have difficulty bonding with their babies. It could also allow parents better to understand physical abnormalities that are diagnosed during pregnancy.

Dr Lopes is now focusing on developing simple software that doctors would be able to use independently and on the spot.