Artificial womb: a paradigm shift for saving extremely premature infants

Scaled-up Microfluidic Lung Assist Device for Artificial Placenta Application with High Gas Exchange Capacity

“…The artificial placenta concept on the other hand mimics the biological circulation of the blood in the fetus when inside the mother’s womb and can be used to oxygenate fetal blood and eliminate carbon dioxide. ,, Artificial placenta type oxygenators can be used either to provide partial support for newborns in respiratory distress or for complete support when the preterm is placed in a womb like setting. The artificial womb concept is a complete extracorporeal life support system that oxygenates the fetal blood, eliminates carbon dioxide, and supplies essential nutrients for the developing fetus to continue its growth until it attains a viable gestational age − and much more complex. An ideal artificial placenta-type oxygenator for partial respiratory support would be a passive device operated by the arterio-venous pressure difference in the neonate and have a low priming volume to eliminate the need of blood transfusions …”