studiobondurri Chapter 277 - 274 Artificial Womb
Chapter 277 - 274 Artificial Womb
Through Jounouchi Hiromi’s explanation, Chen Yu finally understood the course of events and developed a keen interest in her idea of employing a spell like Flesh Z Palace to replace the mother’s womb for the gestation period to nurture the fetus.
Such ideas of an artificial Z Palace and extra-uterine pregnancy are not without precedent. In April 2017, a research team led by Annan Freck at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, USA, published an article in Nature Communications announcing that their "artificial womb" had successfully passed animal testing.
The researchers created a polyethylene membrane bag filled with artificial amniotic fluid (warm water containing salts and other electrolytes) to simulate a sheep’s Z Palace, connecting oxygen through an umbilical cord interface to form a closed fluidic artificial environment.
Outside the polyethylene bag, they fitted a machine placenta whose "vessels" were connected to the umbilical cord of the premature lambs.
The experiment involved testing 8 lamb fetuses that were 110 days old, which is equivalent to 23-24 weeks of gestation in humans, the earliest point at which human babies can be born. After being nurtured in the artificial womb for four weeks, the lambs were born. Multiple physiological indicator tests showed that the lambs developed normally. They could swallow and breathe normally.
Aside from mild lung inflammation in some lambs, the others were very healthy.
Of course, this experiment only showed that humans have already begun such relevant research and have made pleasing progress; it’s not to say that this technology can already be applied to clinical practice.
Furthermore, the gap between premature birth and gestation from an embryo is quite significant, and to date, the techniques studied and mastered by humans have not been able to replace the mother’s womb in the earliest stages of pregnancy.
However, this isn’t necessarily an impossible problem for a Necromancer, especially for a Blood Knight from the Blood School adept at flesh and blood spells. Creating various biological creatures using a Flesh Womb is already a very skilled and mature technique. Even without resorting to magic but relying on human technology, it’s not very difficult to accomplish.@@@@
Hiromi, can you draw inspiration from this aspect?" Chen Yu took a great interest in Jounouchi Hiromi’s ideas, helping her think of solutions, "Provide blood circulation through an artificial placenta, and inject the nutrients needed for fetal development...
No, perhaps we could use a nutrient solution to replace the amniotic fluid, submerge the fetus in the nutrient solution instead of amniotic fluid, and at the same time, supply ample nutrition to the fetus through the umbilical cord?"
"If that’s the case, the fetus cannot be removed from the mother too early, we must wait until the fetus is fully formed before doing so..." Jounouchi Hiromi pondered the suggestions Chen Yu had made, her fingers tracing circles on "Crimson Hymn," "This would require first controlling the mother’s condition with medication, fortunately, her tumor has not become malignant, and the situation is quite optimistic, giving us enough time for the fetus to develop."
Hearing Jounouchi Hiromi’s somewhat optimistic thoughts, Chen Yu couldn’t help but smile bitterly, "That’s easy to say, but apart from an experiment with polyethylene film done by the Americans in 2017, there’s no mature technology for an Artificial Z Palace yet. Hiromi, how do you plan to proceed? You might be able to wait, but the patient cannot!"
Also, I’ve heard the name Egawa Sae before, she’s a very famous female anchor. When I was at the University of Tokyo, she came to the school for an interview, a very impressive woman. Although she’s now asking for your help for the sake of her fetus and her own health, if you can’t save the fetus or treat her, there will still be a lot of trouble later on."
"Whatever the case, as a doctor, how can I avoid saving lives over fear of trouble?" Jounouchi Hiromi countered, not paying heed to Chen Yu’s concerns, instead thinking about how to use artificial materials to create an Artificial Z Palace, as a substitute for the vessel formed of flesh in the Flesh Z Palace spell which houses embryonic development.
"The vessel itself isn’t a problem, if it can be sealed and sterilized, even a glass jar could work.
But the key is nutrient delivery and the blood circulation of the embryo, it’s just an embryo, not a fully developed premature infant, so we must wait until the fetus is developed to a certain extent before taking it out from the mother’s body." Seeing Jounouchi Hiromi’s determined attitude, Chen Yu could only offer his own advice, "And for the mother, the earlier the fetus is removed for treatment, the greater the chance of healing, so a balance between the two must be found."
"I’m aware of that, and I will discuss it with Ms. Egawa Sae. For now, let’s think about how to complete the design of this Artificial Z Palace!" Jounouchi Hiromi nodded and returned her focus to the "Crimson Hymn" in her hands.