Imagine a device that acts like a second placenta for babies born too early. Instead of using scary, oversized adult machines and tubes, it plugs directly into the belly button to handle breathing and waste filtering. This lets the baby recover naturally while staying close to their parents, avoiding the harsh side effects of traditional intensive care.
Current neonatal life support devices are scaled-down adult versions that are too invasive and cause severe side effects. These devices often lead to fatal intracranial hemorrhages due to the high doses of anticoagulants required to prevent blood clots.
A miniaturized all-in-one artificial placenta prototype that combines lung oxygenation and kidney dialysis, featuring biomimetic surface coatings to prevent blood clots.
If you are a manufacturer dealing with the lack of baby-specific life support—since current tools are just scaled-down adult versions—this project developed a miniaturized all-in-one device that integrates lung and kidney functions. This allows you to enter a neonatal care market projected to exceed USD 6.7 billion by 2034.
If you are a chemical company dealing with high thrombosis rates in blood-contacting devices, where 10-50% of patients suffer thrombotic events, this project developed biomimetic surface coatings like nitric oxide-releasing polymers. This technology reduces the need for risky systemic anticoagulation in fragile newborns.
If you are a healthcare provider dealing with high morbidity and long hospital stays for preterm infants, this project developed a plug-in support system via the umbilical cord. This reduces invasive procedures and promotes family-integrated care, potentially improving survival chances for up to 1.2 million newborns yearly.
Based on available project data, the specific unit cost or pricing strategy is not provided.
The project is currently in the prototype and validation phase, focusing on miniaturization and hemocompatibility before moving to full industrial scale.
Based on available project data, specific patent or licensing details are not listed, though the project focuses on developing biomimetic coatings including zwitterionic functionalization.
It integrates by connecting to the newborn's belly button using expandable catheters, allowing the baby to breathe and feed naturally while receiving support.
The project period runs from 2023-04-01 to 2027-03-31, indicating the development and validation phase ends in early 2027.
The consortium is heavily research-driven, consisting of 11 partners across 6 countries. With 6 universities and 1 research institute, the academic weight is high, while industry presence is limited to 2 partners (18% ratio). This structure suggests the project is currently focused on high-risk technical validation rather than immediate commercial rollout.
Contact KLINIKUM NURNBERG in Germany for technical inquiries.
Contact SciTransfer to identify licensing opportunities for the biomimetic coatings.
