Tom Cruise: Ultrasound Rebel

If Tom Cruise gets any weirder, he may turn into Michael Jackson.

In an interview taped October 30 that aired Tuesday on Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2005, the movie star, Scientologist, scourge of the medicated multitudes, and theoretical impregnator of his fiancee Katy Holmes, said, “I bought a sonogram machine. I am going to donate it to a hospital when we are done.”

Taken aback, Walters replied, “Wait, you are going to do your own sonogram?”

“Yes,” Cruise cackled in the somewhat unhinged manner to which we have become accustomed. He said he saw “a little baby” when he performed the sonogram on Holmes.

Personally, I love that gooey ultrasound gel. I wonder if you can eat it.

The American College of Radiology responded with a mixture of good sense and the indignant territoriality that is one of the medical community’s most endearing traits. “This is a patient safety issue. Untrained people, even if they have the financial means, should not buy, or be allowed to buy and operate, ultrasound machines which are, in fact, medical devices and should not be used without a medical indication,” said Carol M. Rumack, MD, FACR, Chair of the ACR Ultrasound Commission.

Ultrasound machines can cost anywhere from $15,000 to $200,000.

“These images should be obtained by certified technologists under the supervision of physicians properly trained in ultrasound. The images should then be interpreted by properly trained physicians,” said Dr. Rumack.

For the uninitiated, ultrasound imaging, also known as ultrasound scanning or sonography, is a method of obtaining images from inside the human body through the use of high frequency sound waves. The sound waves’ echoes are recorded and displayed as a real-time, visual image, and can also be photographed.

(A pregnant woman is given a sonogram by a medical worker)

Rumack continued, “The ACR is concerned that Tom Cruise has been badly advised regarding the use and potential abuse of ultrasound. There are many abnormalities that may be missed by the untrained eye … It is disconcerting that a company would sell a medical device to a person not qualified in any way to perform or interpret ultrasound … If there is no medical supervision for this process, I see no benefit to the patient, which in this case, is Mr. Cruise’s unborn child,” she sniffed.

The FDA has stated, “Persons who promote, sell or lease ultrasound equipment for making ‘keepsake’ fetal videos should know that FDA views this as an unapproved use of a medical device. In addition, those who subject individuals to ultrasound exposure using a diagnostic ultrasound device (a prescription device) without a physician’s order may be in violation of state or local laws or regulations regarding use of a prescription medical device.”

I’ve heard he tears the tags off of mattresses as well. No word on whether Cruise will also be delivering the baby himself.

Cruise and Holmes are now in Shanghai, China, where he is filming scenes for Mission Impossible 3. Yesterday he freaked on a Chinese reporter who took a cell call during his press conference.

“Put her on the phone. I want to talk to her,” Cruise demanded of the reporter upon hearing a female voice on the other end of the line.

“Hello. Xiexie. Ni hao. Are you good?” said Cruise.

“Are you good? Are you working? Are you going to get engaged? Soon? Maybe?”

A translator then intervened and revealed that the caller was actually the reporter’s wife.

“Tell her I wish her happiness,” Cruise said.

Then, when asked about his own upcoming nuptials with Holmes, he wigged again. “You want to know where we’re gonna get married? The exact date? The exact place? The color dress, designer? You know, we haven’t set a date…It will happen next year,” he said according to E! online.