Perinatal Life Support: Protecting Premature Infants

Breathing air is especially challenging for these extremely premature infants, often resulting in complications such as breathing difficulties, heart problems, neurological damage, and metabolic disorders, with long-term adverse effects. Despite advances in medical care, air-based incubators cannot fully replicate the protective environment of the mother's womb for these highly vulnerable babies.

A new research project is developing a liquid-based incubator, or perinatal life support system, designed to improve survival rates and the quality of life for extremely premature infants. The project has received nearly 3 million euros in funding from the European Horizon 2020 program under a Future and Emerging Technologies grant. 

Prof. dr. Guid Oei (Head of the Perinatal Department, Máxima Medical Center): "The perinatal life support mimics the natural environment. The children remain immersed in fluid after birth, with oxygen and nutrition provided through the umbilical cord."

Impact
The researchers have created a proof-of-concept for the liquid-based incubator and developed an extremely realistic fetal manikin, a moving and breathing 24-week-old fetus, to test this artificial womb in a hospital setting with a team of professionals. The next step is to conduct preclinical experiments with a prototype designed with significant input from parents to optimize bonding. The plan is to establish a spin-out company in Q1 of 2025 to bring the liquid-based incubator to market in the coming years.

More info: https://perinatallifesupport.eu/ 

Horizon 2020 - Excellent Science: Future and Emerging Technologies