Scientists have developed a "placenta-on-a-chip" that could provide insight into the role a placenta plays in pregnancy.
The device is designed to imitate the function of a placenta on a micro-level and replicate the transfer of nutrients from mother to fetus, the National Institutes of Health reported.
"We believe that this technology may be used to address questions that are difficult to answer with current placenta model systems and help enable research on pregnancy and its complications," said Roberto Romero, chief of the NICHD's Perinatology Research Branch and one of the study authors.
The placenta is a temporary organ that develops during pregnancy and facilitates nutrient and oxygen between a mother and her fetus. It also acts as a "crossing guard" to prevent harmful substances from reaching the fetus and helps move away waste products.
Researchers have been working to discover exactly how the placenta performs all of these vital functions, but this has proven difficult because it is time consuming and could pose a potential risk to the fetus. This new placenta-on-a-chip technology could help solve these challenges and allow researchers to take a closer look at the organ's function.
The device consists of a semi-permeable membrane between two chambers, one of which is filled with maternal cells extracted from a human placenta, and the other with fetal cells from an umbilical cord. After designing the device, the researchers tested its function by observing the transfer of glucose from one compartment to another. They found the process mimicked what would occur in a normal human pregnancy.
"The chip may allow us to do experiments more efficiently and at a lower cost than animal studies," said Dr. Romero. "With further improvements, we hope this technology may lead to better understanding of normal placental processes and placental disorders."
The findings were published in a recent edition of the Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine.
