The artificial uterus was successfully tested for the second time

Australian scientists continue to experiment with artificial uterus, providing a chance for survival for premature babies from 22 weeks of age.

An Australian team successfully used the artificial uterus to nourish a sheep for the second time, Long Room reported. Plastic bags filled with fluids can help the fetal organs of the fetus develop, giving new hope for preterm birth care in the future.

Researchers at the University of Western Australia, the Australian Association for the Study of Women and Children and Tohoku University Hospital in Japan reported that they have developed some sheep in an artificial uterus for a week.

Sheeps are healthy and show no signs of brain damage.

The fetus is placed in a bag made specifically for them to check how they react and grow in that environment. Sheeps are healthy and show no signs of brain damage.

This is not the first time an artificial uterus is used to nourish a sheep fetus. In April, the team at the Children's Institute of Philadelphia applied the same method of hatching. The artificial uterus contains sheep embryos for 4 weeks without affecting the brain or internal organs. The majority of sheep are destroyed then for the research team to analyze their organs and how the organs develop.

The sheep used in the study were in the range of 105 - 115 days old, corresponding to the 23-week-old fetus. Before creating an artificial uterus, the researchers only kept the lamb alive in the artificial system for about 60 hours and those sheep suffered serious brain damage.

The artificial uterus is filled with amniotic fluid to simulate conditions in the mother's uterus. An external oxygen supply device will act as an oxygen exchange placenta that helps circulate the system and lead carbon dioxide gas. In both studies, the fetal heart was carefully monitored to prevent overburdening while other organs in the sheep's body developed.

Premature sheep develop in artificial wombs.(Video: YouTube).

However, many argue that this method can be dangerous due to the difference between sheep and humans. For example, sheep are only in the womb for 5 months while humans must be in the womb 8-9 months. Born sheep are also much larger than babies. Size differences can alter the way the artificial uterus works. Another criticism is that an artificial uterus can violate women's abortion rights.

Each year about 30,000 children in the United States are born prematurely, meaning children are born before 26 weeks of age compared to the usual 37-week development process. Researchers hope the artificial uterus will provide a medical solution to help premature babies survive 22 weeks. They will need an additional 5 years to complete before they can test the system with the human fetus. The new method is named "external uterine environment" or EVE.