Maintaining the life of deeply premature babies is an extremely difficult task, according to an online edition for girls and women aged 14-35 who are Pannochka. net Modern technologies can not even come close to the conditions that are created for the child by nature inside the mother's body, so doctors only help children to survive on their own.

Researchers from the University of Michigan in the United States, the Children's Hospital Mott and the Laboratory for the Study of Extracorporeal Circulation created an artificial placenta that performs extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), thanks to which the child does not need to rely on underdeveloped lungs in the first weeks of life.

ECMO is already widely used in the postoperative period for children and adults with cardiac and respiratory insufficiency, but the artificial placenta is structurally different from the current ECMO equipment and is specially adapted for premature infants.

The innovative system provides efficient gas exchange without the need for mechanical ventilation. Imitating a normal intrauterine environment, the artificial placenta must support the growth and development of the child until the moment when he is fully ready for an independent (postnatal) life.

The technology was successfully tested on deeply premature lambs, which were successfully maintained alive during the week of the experiment. The next step will be a long-term observation of the development of animals after staying inside the artificial placenta.

If the results are successful, then in a couple of years it will come to clinical trials.

"Complete paradigm shift".

Despite significant advances in neonatology, mortality and the risk of long-term health problems in deeply premature infants (up to 24 weeks gestation) remain extremely high. Their weak body is simply not adapted to life outside the womb.

"One of the biggest difficulties with these children is the underdevelopment of the lungs, which can not withstand even the most" gentle "techniques of artificial ventilation. If the baby's lungs are very underdeveloped, they can not supply oxygen to the brain, the heart and other organs are a disaster, "says Dr. George Mychaliska, project manager, director of the UM Diagnostic and Treatment Center.

The problem was solved in the most obvious way - by creating outside the mother's body the conditions that are most suitable for the further development of the child. Although the work is still at an early stage, this is a real revolution. The authors call them "a complete paradigm change" in neonatology.

"There are many useful, salutary technologies, but they were not designed specifically for premature babies, so they often prove ineffective or lead to serious complications," say scientists..

After a successful experiment with the lambs, the Michigan scientists obtained a $ 2.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which will allow them to attract additional specialists and should significantly accelerate research.

The ultimate goal is to refine and test the system within the next five years that completely simulates the conditions inside the uterus and allows the child to safely develop from 20 weeks of gestation to full physiological maturity.

Faith in the success of an ambitious project is added by the fact that the laboratory itself is attended by the professor of surgery at the University of Michigan Robert Bartlett (Robert Bartlett), known to the world as the father of ECMO.

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