 Female menstrual cycle in a dish
Northwestern Medicine has developed a miniature female reproductive tract that fits in the palm of your hand and could eventually change the future of research and treatment of diseases in women's reproductive organs. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
This new 3-D technology - called EVATAR - is made with human tissue and will enable scientists to conduct much-needed testing of new drugs for safety and effectiveness on the female reproductive system.
EVATAR also will help scientists understand diseases of the female reproductive tract such as endometriosis, fibroids (which affect up to 80 percent of women), cancer and infertility.
The ultimate goal is to use stem cells of an individual patient and create a personalized model of their reproductive system.
EVATAR, which resembles a small cube, contains 3-D models of ovaries, fallopian tubes, the uterus, cervix, vagina and liver with special fluid pumping through all of them that performs the function of blood.
"This is nothing short of a revolutionary technology," said lead investigator Teresa Woodruff, a reproductive scientist and director of the Women's Health Research Institute at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
The organ models are able to communicate with each other via secreted substances, including hormones, to closely resemble how they all work together in the body.
Nature Communications, nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/ncomms14584
Credit: Northwestern University  Â
