← 🫀 Medical Technology & Imaging Physics

🫀 Fetal-to-Neonatal Circulatory Transition Lab

Pulmonary resistance:
Shunt flow:
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🫀 Fetal-to-Neonatal Circulatory Transition Lab

This simulator demonstrates how fetal circulation's three shunts, the ductus venosus, foramen ovale, and ductus arteriosus, respond to the pressure and oxygen changes triggered by the first breath and umbilical cord clamping, converting a parallel circulatory layout into the adult in-series pattern over minutes to days.

🔬 What It Demonstrates

This simulator demonstrates how fetal circulation's three shunts, the ductus venosus, foramen ovale, and ductus arteriosus, respond to the pressure and oxygen changes triggered by the first breath and umbilical cord clamping, converting a parallel circulatory layout into the adult in-series pattern over minutes to days.

🎮 How to Use

Use the controls to trigger the first breath and umbilical cord clamping independently, then watch pulmonary vascular resistance, systemic vascular resistance, and atrial pressures shift in real time. Observe the order in which the foramen ovale, ductus arteriosus, and ductus venosus close, and try delaying cord clamping relative to the first breath to see how the sequence and timing change.

💡 Did You Know?

A probe-patent foramen ovale, meaning the flap is pressed shut but not permanently fused, persists into adulthood in roughly one in four people without causing any symptoms at all.