Making way for a digital twin of the human placenta

Preeclampsia, intrauterine fetal growth restriction, and other “great obstetrical syndromes” have been linked to disordered placenta development, so understanding the structure and function of this vital organ is critical to detecting pregnancy disorders.

Hemodynamic digital twins are virtual representations of the way blood flows through the body. They have already been proposed to predict cardiovascular disease risk, but collecting measurements of pregnant uteri to inform digital twin models of pregnancy is limited due to safety concerns. By computationally replicating realistic placenta blood flow, Noelia Grande Gutiérrez of Carnegie Mellon University’s Department of Mechanical Engineering is addressing this lack of data.

A breakthrough in the field, her lab has developed a computational model of the basic functional unit of the human placenta—the placentone. The team’s research uncovered the anatomical parameters required to ensure a pragmatic, physiological simulation of a healthy pregnancy. The research is published in the journal Physics of Fluids.

“The effect of a placenta’s anatomic structures on hemodynamics had not been systematically assessed until now,” said Grande Gutiérrez. “Our computational model has enabled us to define physiological parameters for vein location and diameter, cavity diameter and lengths, and spiral artery remodeling length. These guarantee that our models are physiological even though they are not patient specific.”

This is the first step towards placenta digital twins.

Armita Najmi, Ph.D. candidate in Grande Gutiérrez’s lab and lead author of the paper said, “Our computational study provides practical insight into what a healthy and efficient placentone should look like, and this understanding is necessary for improving our ability to predict and identify pregnancy disorders.”

Moving forward, the team will study the effects of blood flow on the microstructure of the placentone during the second trimester of pregnancy.

“Partial spiral artery remodeling observed in some complicated pregnancies directly affects the hemodynamics inside the placenta,” said Najmi. “We are trying to figure out how this partial spiral artery remodeling affects the development of the placental villi and its structure in complicated pregnancies.”

“There’s so much still to do in this space,” said Grande Gutiérrez,” but computational modeling allows us to advance research, and design medicinal therapies with a very personalized approach.”

Preeclampsia, intrauterine fetal growth restriction, and other “great obstetrical syndromes” have been linked to disordered placenta development, so understanding the structure and function of this vital organ is critical to detecting pregnancy disorders.

Hemodynamic digital twins are virtual representations of the way blood flows through the body. They have already been proposed to predict cardiovascular disease risk, but collecting measurements of pregnant uteri to inform digital twin models of pregnancy is limited due to safety concerns. By computationally replicating realistic placenta blood flow, Noelia Grande Gutiérrez of Carnegie Mellon University’s Department of Mechanical Engineering is addressing this lack of data.

A breakthrough in the field, her lab has developed a computational model of the basic functional unit of the human placenta—the placentone. The team’s research uncovered the anatomical parameters required to ensure a pragmatic, physiological simulation of a healthy pregnancy. The research is published in the journal Physics of Fluids.

“The effect of a placenta’s anatomic structures on hemodynamics had not been systematically assessed until now,” said Grande Gutiérrez. “Our computational model has enabled us to define physiological parameters for vein location and diameter, cavity diameter and lengths, and spiral artery remodeling length. These guarantee that our models are physiological even though they are not patient specific.”

This is the first step towards placenta digital twins.

Armita Najmi, Ph.D. candidate in Grande Gutiérrez’s lab and lead author of the paper said, “Our computational study provides practical insight into what a healthy and efficient placentone should look like, and this understanding is necessary for improving our ability to predict and identify pregnancy disorders.”

Moving forward, the team will study the effects of blood flow on the microstructure of the placentone during the second trimester of pregnancy.

“Partial spiral artery remodeling observed in some complicated pregnancies directly affects the hemodynamics inside the placenta,” said Najmi. “We are trying to figure out how this partial spiral artery remodeling affects the development of the placental villi and its structure in complicated pregnancies.”

“There’s so much still to do in this space,” said Grande Gutiérrez,” but computational modeling allows us to advance research, and design medicinal therapies with a very personalized approach.”