Prof John MacVicar

PROFESSOR John MacVicar, who has died aged 83, helped transform the management of pregnancy and the treatment of gynaecological conditions with his pioneering research into the use of ultrasound scans.

As a young obstetrician in the 1950s, he joined a small team at Glasgow’s Western Infirmary who were trying to adapt sonar technology, originally used during the war to track enemy submarines, so that it could be applied to medical diagnostics.

Together with Professor Ian Donald, Regius Professor of Midwifery at Glasgow University, and 23-year-old engineer Tom Brown, from the Glasgow firm of Kelvin Hughes, Dr MacVicar, as he was at the time, worked tirelessly to develop a prototype medical scanner by adapting an ultrasonic metal flaw detector and even using Meccano parts and an old bedside table.

In June 1958, the trio published a landmark paper in The Lancet: Investigation of Abdominal Masses by Pulsed Ultrasound. It presented data on 100 patients and reported how scanning had been used to detect and diagnose growths in the abdomen, being able to differentiate between cysts, fibroids and other intra-abdominal masses.

The paper introduced a new diagnostic science that would influence the future of obstetrics and gynaecology and, later, many other branches of medicine and surgery. In 1963 the same three Glasgow researchers published a paper in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology on the use of ultrasound in the diagnosis of early pregnancy and its complications.

Dr MacVicar, who had been registrar in Ian Donald’s professorial department when he was co-opted onto the team, was dedicated to the research work. As an obstetrician operating in the fledgling NHS, he was acutely aware that women, particularly those from poorer backgrounds, had been given no option but to simply put up with gynaecological problems for years. Now, with ultrasound, there was a chance to do something about it.

With Mr Brown there to build the machine, it was left to Dr MacVicar to conduct the clinical trials. Initially, it was lumps of meat which were scanned, comparing the results with scans of tissue, such as cysts, which had been removed from bodies.

He would experiment into the night, often ending up soaking wet. Sonar had originally been used for detecting submarines and it was some time before the team realised that the experiments did not have to be conducted under water.

In 2008, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the publication of the paper in The Lancet, Prof MacVicar said: “It was rather marvellous to see inside the body. We could see the baby moving. It was there and then it shifted.”

Born in the village of Southend on the Mull of Kintyre, John MacVicar was a son of the manse. His brother was the well-known Scottish author Angus MacVicar. He was educated at school in Campbelltown before going on to study medicine at Glasgow University.

After graduation and training he chose to specialise in obstetrics and joined Prof Donald as registrar in the department of obstetrics and gynaecology at the Western Infirmary and Royal Maternity Hospital in 1956.

He later became lecturer and senior lecturer in Ob/gyn at Glasgow University. His long and distinguished professional connection to the city ended in 1974 when he accepted the post of Foundation Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaeocology at Leicester University. Passionate about clinical care and teaching, he was a modest man who rarely talked to colleagues about his pioneering research work. He retired in 1992 but continued to live in Leicester until his death.

Prof MacVicar was a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Glasgow and a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. He is survived by his wife Esme, children Marsali, Rona, Alan and Cath, and grandchildren Sam, Emily, Ailie, Kirsty and Cameron.