NEWS: OOC Pregnancy Model Uses WPI TEER Technology to Improve Outcomes
See how WPI equipment is being used by researchers to advance organ on a chip (OOC) to improve the outcomes of pregnancies. WPI is working with Dr. Ramkumar Menon, director of UTMB Obstetrics and Gynecology’s Division of Basic Science and Translational Research, who is using Transepithelial Electrical Resistance (TEER) to explore ways to minimize pre-term births.
The groundbreaking research of our collaborators, Dr. Menon and Dr. Richardson, on maternal fetal barriers and preterm labor is making a major impact in the field of reproductive health. Their lab has created state-of-the-art organ-on-chip technology and are partnering with WPI to advanced the use of on-chip, functional measurements. This innovative approach has the potential to revolutionize our understanding of maternal fetal interactions and improve outcomes for mothers and babies.
By creating an on chip model of a human pregnancy Dr. Menon and his team are able to ethically test treatments for infections which could cause pre-term births. According to Dr. Menon, “The fetus and the mother are communicating all the time, and it’s required for the development of the baby. We discovered in my lab that there are small nanoparticles called extra cellular vesicles, or exosomes, that go back and forth between mother and fetus. Each produces them and sends them to the other.” By considering both mother and fetus as patients, they are designing methods to treat the fetal patient by using this unique communication method between the two.