“As a proof of concept, it’s impressive,” says Karen Ladin, a bioethicist who focuses on organ transplantation and perfusion at Tufts University. “These are early days.”
This may not seem like a lot, but 24 hours is a long time for an organ to leave the body. Keeping the donated uterus that long could expand options for uterus transplants, a fairly new procedure offered for some people who want to get pregnant but don’t have a functional uterus, says Gerald Brandacher, MD, professor of experimental and translational transplant surgery at the Medical University of Innsbruck in Austria.
“It’s better than what we currently have, because we only have a few hours,” he says. So far, most uterus transplants planned have involved organs from living donors. He says such technology could allow the use of more organs from deceased donors.
Santamaria says this work is “not in the immediate pipeline” for the team in Spain. “We’re working on other problems.”
Pregnancy in the laboratory?
Santamaria, Gonzalez and their colleagues are more interested in using intact human uteruses for research.
He has installed a camera on a wall in the corner of the room, pointing towards his machine. This allows the team to remotely monitor the “Mother” and check if any valves have become disconnected. (This had happened once before—the blood sac broke loose due to increased pressure, spilling a liter of blood on the floor, Santamaria says.)
She wants to be able to keep her uterus alive for about 28 days to study the menstrual cycle and disorders that affect the uterus, such as endometriosis and fibroids.
