L2M Market Assessment Grant: a bioassay to predict birth timing.

孕妇的足月分娩发生在从怀孕第38周开始到第42周结束的五周时间内。然而，没有办法表明这几周中的哪一周将实际交付。我们的产品，一种生物检测，旨在模拟交付过程中的自然发生，在7天内确定交付，准确率为91%，甚至在4天内准确率更高。该检测的原理是，趋化信号由婴儿周围的胎膜(羊膜、绒毛膜)产生，并在分娩前最后3-7天释放。这种信号既能吸引循环中的白血球，又能激活它们。被吸引的白细胞将物理地迁移到子宫，在那里它们将锚定，然后释放炎症介质，导致从怀孕到分娩的过渡。我们可以通过简单的、非侵入性的抽血来测试这一点，这种抽血可以在怀孕最后一个月的每周产前检查中获得。它的新奇之处在于，它是唯一一种评估足月出生时间的生物检测方法。

Term delivery in pregnant women occurs over a five-week period from the beginning of the 38th week of gestation to the end of the 42nd week. There are no means to indicate, however, which of these weeks the delivery will actually occur. Our product, a bioassay, is designed to mimic a natural occurrence in the delivery process that determines delivery within 7 days with accuracy >91% and even higher accuracy within 4 days. The principle of the assay is that a chemotactic signal is produced by the fetal membranes (amnion, chorion) surrounding the baby and is released in the final 3-7 days before labour begins. This signal both attracts circulating white blood cells and activates them. The attracted white blood cells will physically migrate into the uterus where they will anchor and then release inflammatory mediators causing the transition from pregnancy to labour and delivery. We can test this with a simple, non-invasive blood draw, which can be obtained at weekly prenatal visits during the final month of pregnancy. Its novelty is it is the only bioassay to assess the timing of birth at term.