3-D mini female reproductive system may transform drug testing

Scientists have, in a breakthrough, developed a 3-D based miniature female reproductive tract that will boost safety and effectiveness in testing new drugs for diseases such as fibroids, endometriosis, cancer and infertility in women's reproductive organs.

The new 3-D device -- called EVATAR -- is made with human tissue, can fit in the palm of your hand, and could help use stem cells of an individual patient and create a personalised model of their reproductive system.

"This is nothing short of a revolutionary technology. It's the ultimate personalised medicine, a model of your body for testing drugs," said lead investigator Teresa Woodruff, a reproductive scientist and Director at Northwestern University in the US.

"This will help us develop individualised treatments and see how females may metabolise drugs differently from males," Woodruff added. 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, mimicking what is actually happening in the body, the researchers said in the paper published in the journal Nature Communications.

The device has a series of cables and pumps that cause media (simulated blood) to flow between wells and will open doors into the causes of endometriosis, fibroids and some cancers.

The system also will allow scientists to test millions of compounds in the environment and new pharmaceuticals to understand how they affect the reproductive system and many other organs in the body. "This technology will help us look at drug testing and drug discovery in a brand new way," Woodruff said.