Hemodynamics of human placenta

Abstract

The placenta is responsible for the exchange of oxygen and nutrients from the mother to the fetus. Normal placentation and placental development are critical for a successful pregnancy. In this study the placenta are obtained from normal pregnancy and of normal vaginal delivery (age: 31 years old, parity 1, and gestation 38 weeks). After the delivery of the baby and the placenta commercial polymer mixture was injected into the artery to achieve a placental vascular model. The polymeric cast of the fetal vasculature of full-term placenta is used in order to perform a numerical simulation of the blood perfusion in the placenta. The period for the simulations is 0.5s, which corresponds to a baby heart rate of 120 bpm. Numerical simulation indicated that the velocity profiles in the placental vessels, both immediately upstream and downstream the bifurcation, are close to parabolic profiles.