After research on animals kept foetuses alive for 12 days, scientists in Barcelona are attempting to “trick nature” by developing artificial wombs for extremely premature newborns. The artificial placenta prototype imitates a protected environment with a transparent, biocompatible container so that the foetus’ lungs, intestines, and brain can continue to develop inside of it. It is linked to a mechanism for the circulation of amniotic fluid, which keeps the foetus protected from outside stimuli but accessible for control and monitoring by ultrasound.
Babies born at six months or later are regarded as severely premature and are at significant risk of dying or becoming disabled. According to the most recent data from the World Health Organisation, over 900,000 such infants perished globally in 2019. “We try to develop a system that allows us to keep a foetus outside its mother but still in the foetal conditions: that it continues to breathe through the umbilical cord … that we can feed it through the umbilical cord, that it lives surrounded by a fluid at a constant temperature,” project head Eduard Gratacos told Reuters.
“Although it is an exciting development, the artificial placenta is not intended to replace a natural placenta,” Werner said
He is the leader of a 35-person team from the BCNatal medical research facility, which was created by combining the obstetrics and maternal-fetal medicine departments of two hospitals in Barcelona, and Fundacion La Caixa, a nonprofit organisation supported by Caixabank (CABK.MC). The scientists will test with pigs before suggesting a human trial in a few years. In pre-clinical experiments with lambs, they were able to achieve 12-day foetal survival. “The highly-complex project spans many different specialities of medicine and requires engineers of different types. It’s a challenge, it’s extremely delicate to achieve this, to trick nature to make this possible,” Gratacos said.
One team of researchers at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia was one of just a few such experiments around the world to successfully preserve animal foetuses for 28 days. According to Kelly Werner, an assistant professor of paediatrics at Columbia University, the Spanish team’s promising findings need to be thoroughly examined in human clinical trials to rule out risks and adverse effects. “Although it is an exciting development, the artificial placenta is not intended to replace a natural placenta,” Werner said. “That is, despite these advancements, we still should make every effort to support maternal health and decrease risk factors that lead to preterm birth.”