It may look like something out of a science fiction novel (probably because it is), but scientists have developed an artificial womb that could save premature babies as soon as this year.
A team at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have created the bizarre-looking bag to mimic the fluid-filled environment babies experience in the womb – where they are breathing in liquid, not air.
The aim of the artificial womb is to allow premature babies to keep growing until their lungs are more formed and ready to breathe air.
‘The idea is to bridge the rough patch when they’re really struggling and carry them through to a point when they can do okay,’ said Dr Emily Partridge,
Extremely premature babies are those born before 28 weeks of the roughly 40-week pregnancy. In the UK, about 6% of babies are born at this time – or around 3,200. Those around 22 weeks have just a 10% chance of survival, while before 22 weeks the chance is almost zero.
To test their new device, the team used preterm lambs, born between 106 and 113 days, the equivalent of a baby born at around 23 or 24 weeks.
The lambs were placed in the artificial womb and their umbilical cords hooked up to an oxygenator, which pumped blood into the animal as would happen naturally. The fluid, made in the lab to mimic the amniotic fluid in the womb, then allowed the lamb to ‘breathe’ normally.
The trials were so successful, the team is now seeking approval to test the device in humans.
‘The animals demonstrated normal or increased movement, sleep/wake cycles, intermittent breathing and swallowing and generally appeared comfortable and nondistressed,’ the team said.
They also continued to develop healthy lungs, brains and other organs.
The US Food and Drug Administration is now considering whether human trials can go ahead.
One ethical dilemma that has been raised is the high-pressure and emotional setting of preterm birth, which may not allow parents to give fully formed consent to the trial.
Yale University’s Mark Mercurio raised the issue, but added that he thinks the artificial womb’s potential benefits could outweigh the risks in very early births, where there is a less than 20% chance of survival.
‘One thing the project has taught me is never give up,’ added Dr Partridge. ‘You’ve got to keep going, keep going until it works.’
However, something it won’t do is allow babies to be grown entirely in the lab, the dream of many a sci-fi writer.
Dr Alan Flake, one of the team members, has previously described this as ‘nothing more than a technically and developmentally naïve, yet sensationally speculative, pipe dream’.
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