![]() The premature lambs were delivered by C-section and immediately placed into a temperature-controlled bag filled with a substitute for amniotic fluid that they swallow and take into their lungs. Here's a closer look at how the "Biobag" system worked for the lambs: The device is simpler than previous attempts at creating an artificial womb, which haven't yet panned out. Flake's goal is for the womb-like system to support the very youngest preemies just for a few weeks, until their organs are mature enough to better handle regular hospital care like older preemies who have less risk of death or disability. Photo credit: Ed Cunicelli/Children's Hospital of Phildelphia via APĭr. Extreme prematurity is a leading cause of infant mortality, and those who do survive frequently have serious disabilities such as cerebral palsy. Increasingly, hospitals attempt to save the most critically premature infants, including those born before 26 weeks gestation and even those right at the limits of viability - 22 to 23 weeks. "We're trying to extend normal gestation," says Alan Flake, MD, a fetal surgeon at CHOP who is leading the project and considers it a temporary bridge between the mother's womb and the outside world. Human testing still is three to five years away, though the team already is in discussions with the Food and Drug Administration. ![]() "It's hard to describe actually how uniquely awe-inspiring it is to see," she adds in an interview. Over four weeks we see that fetus open its eyes, grow wool, breathe, swim," says Emily Partridge, MD, PhD, a CHOP research fellow and first author of the April 2017 study, which was published in Nature Communications. "We start with a tiny fetus that is pretty inert and spends most of its time sleeping. In early-stage animal testing, extremely premature lambs grew, apparently normally, inside the system for three to four weeks, the team reported Tuesday.
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