Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 23, 2025
Three-dimensional Rendering and Analysis of Immunolabeled, Clarified Human Placental Villous Vascular Networks
Published on: March 29, 2018
Three-dimensional visualisation of the feto-placental vasculature in humans and rodents
J L James1, Y Tongpob2, V Srinivasan3
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, New Zealand.
Adequate development of the feto-placental circulation is critical for placental exchange function and healthy fetal growth. Understanding the structure of this circulation and how it informs fetal outcomes is important both in the human placenta, and the rodent, a purported comparative experimental model. Vascular casting and micro-CT imaging approaches enable detailed quantification of the complex vascular relationships in the feto-circulation, and provide detailed data to parameterise in silico models. Here, to assist researchers to apply these technically challenging methods we provide detailed approaches to cast and image; 1) human placentas at the cotyledon-level, and 2) whole rodent placentas.
Adequate development of the feto-placental circulation is critical for placental exchange function and healthy fetal growth. Understanding the structure of this circulation and how it informs fetal outcomes is important both in the human placenta, and the rodent, a purported comparative experimental model. Vascular casting and micro-CT imaging approaches enable detailed quantification of the complex vascular relationships in the feto-circulation, and provide detailed data to parameterise in silico models. Here, to assist researchers to apply these technically challenging methods we provide detailed approaches to cast and image; 1) human placentas at the cotyledon-level, and 2) whole rodent placentas.
