2011 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Development of a circuit with a high-performance membranous oxygenator for using an artificial placenta in a premature lamb model

Research Project

Project/Area Number	22791026
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Embryonic/Neonatal medicine
Research Institution	Tohoku University
Principal Investigator	WATANABE Shinpei 東北大学, 大学院・医学系研究科, 非常勤講師 (70509413)
Project Period (FY)	2010 – 2011
Keywords	人工胎盤 / 人工羊水 / 人工子宮 / 胎児循環 / 膜型人工肺 / 動脈管 / マイクロスフェア法
Research Abstract	Because previous studies aimed at developing an artificial placenta have had limited success, we hypothesized that the introduction of a high-performance membranous oxygenator to a pumpless artificial placenta could prolong the survival time of premature lambs. Immediately after the delivery of the fetuses, the umbilical vessels were cannulated and connected to the pumpless artificial placenta. Both the fetuses and the circuit were submerged in a warm saline bath. Five fetuses survived for 18. 2 ± 3. 2 (mean ± SEM)hours after attachment to the artificial placenta, which maintained the fetal circulation. We prolonged the survival of fetal lambs using a high-performance membranous oxygenator with a small priming volume.