An artificial womb has successfully incubated healthy baby lambs for a period of one week, and could one day do the same for extremely premature babies.

Preterm lambs were successfully maintained in a healthy, infection-free condition with significant growth, for a period of one week using ex-vivo uterine environment (EVE) therapy. The study was performed as part of a long-standing collaborative program, involving researchers from the Women and Infants Research Foundation, the University of Western Australia, and Tohoku University Hospital, Japan.

The project seeks to develop an effective treatment strategy for extremely preterm infants born at the border of viability (22-23 weeks).

Researcher Associate Professor Matt Kemp, said that with further development, EVE therapy could prevent the severe morbidity suffered by extremely premature infants by potentially offering a medical technology that does not currently exist.

“Designing treatment strategies for extremely preterm infants is a challenge,” he said.

“At this gestational age the lungs are often too structurally and functionally under-developed for the baby to breathe easily”.

The research team hypothesised that one means of improving outcomes for this group would be to treat them as a foetus rather than a small infant.

“At its core, our equipment is essentially is a high-tech amniotic fluid bath combined with an artificial placenta. Put those together, and with careful maintenance what you’ve got is an artificial womb,” Assoc Prof Kemp said.

“By providing an alternative means of gas exchange for the foetus, we hoped to spare the extremely preterm cardiopulmonary system from ventilation-derived injury, and save the lives of those babies whose lungs are too immature to breathe properly.

“The end goal is to provide preterm babies the chance to better develop their lungs and other important organs before being brought into the world.”

“EVE therapy, and the use of sheep as a model of human pregnancy and the newborn, has been a long-standing research interest of this group.

“We now have a much better understanding of what works and what doesn’t, and although significant development is required, a life support system based around EVE therapy may provide an avenue to improve outcomes for extremely preterm infants.”

The latest study is accessible here.