Direct assessment of blood oxygenation in the human placenta can provide information about placental function. However, the monitoring of placental oxygenation involves invasive sampling or imaging techniques that are poorly suited for bedside use. Here we show that placental oxygen haemodynamics can be non-invasively probed in real time and up to 4.2 cm below the body surface via concurrent frequency-domain diffuse optical spectroscopy and ultrasound imaging. We developed a multimodal instrument to facilitate the assessment of the properties of the anterior placenta by leveraging image-reconstruction algorithms that integrate ultrasound information about the morphology of tissue layers with optical information on haemodynamics. In a pilot investigation involving placentas with normal function (15 women) or abnormal function (9 women) from pregnancies in the third trimester, we found no significant differences in baseline haemoglobin properties, but statistically significant differences in the haemodynamic responses to maternal hyperoxia. Our findings suggest that the non-invasive monitoring of placental oxygenation may aid the early detection of placenta-related adverse pregnancy outcomes and maternal vascular malperfusion.

直接评估人胎盘中的血氧可以提供有关胎盘功能的信息。然而，胎盘氧合作用的监测涉及侵入性取样或成像技术，这些技术不太适合床边使用。在这里，我们表明胎盘氧血流动力学可以通过并发频域漫射光谱和超声成像实时无创地探测到体表以下 4.2 厘米。我们开发了一种多模式仪器，通过利用图像重建算法来促进对前胎盘特性的评估，该算法将有关组织层形态的超声信息与有关血液动力学的光学信息相结合。在一项涉及妊娠晚期胎盘功能正常（15 名女性）或功能异常（9 名女性）的初步调查中，我们发现基线血红蛋白特性没有显着差异，但在对母体高氧的血液动力学反应方面存在统计学显着差异。我们的研究结果表明，胎盘氧合的无创监测可能有助于及早发现与胎盘相关的不良妊娠结局和母体血管灌注不良。