Artificial womb for premature babies? This baby sheep is growing inside
a plastic bag
New Delhi: It's not a sci-fi movie – a premature lamb fitted with tubes
and fluids is growing inside a plastic bag. Scientists have been able to keep a
baby sheep alive for weeks using an artificial womb that resembles a plastic
bag. The approach might one day help nurture and protect premature
babies outside the uterus, providing a better chance for survival and
eliminating the health risk of pregnancy. Although the technology has
only been tested on sheep, researchers hope it could become a lifesaver for
many premature human babies in just a few years.
"Just looking at them it's immediately clear that they shouldn't
be here yet, they're not ready," said Emily Partridge, a doctor for
critically premature infants at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)
and one of the researchers. Babies born at or before 25 weeks have quite low
survival outcomes, and in the US it is the leading cause of infant mortality
and morbidity.
In babies born preterm, the chance of survival at less than 23 weeks is
close to zero, while at 23 weeks it is 15%, at 24 weeks 55% and at 25 weeks
about 80%.
With an artificial womb the babies can continue developing – even just
a few weeks extra 'growing time' can be the difference between severe health
problems and a relatively healthy baby. "These infants have an urgent need
for a bridge between the mother's womb and the outside world," says Alan
Flake, senior researcher for the study and a foetal surgeon at the CHOP. In the
study, the premature lambs, equivalent in age to 23to 24 week-old human
infants, appeared to develop normally in their bags.
The plastic 'biobag' womb is filled with filled with an electrolyte
solution which acts like amniotic fluid in the uterus. The lamb's own heart
pumps the blood through the umbilical cord into a gas exchange machine outside
the bag.
Researchers said after just four weeks the lambs' brains and lungs had
matured. They had also grown wool and could wiggle, open their eyes, and
swallow. "We've been extremely successful in replacing the conditions in
the womb in our lamb model," lead investigator Dr Alan Flake was quoted as
saying.
"They've had normal growth. They've had normal lung maturation.
They've had normal brain maturation. They've had normal development in every
way that we can measure it." The team of researchers insist it is not looking to replace mothers or
extend the limits of viability, but to find a better way to support babies born
prematurely.
The research has been published in
Nature Communications.
Source: www.timesofindia.com
27.04.2017
In the middle of every difficulty
lies opportunity
Albert
Einstein
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