Placental perfusion for the study of tissue functions began in the
1960’s [65-67]. Perfusion of the isolated human placental cotyledon
was described in 1967 by Panigel [68], and in 1970 Nesbitt [69]
introduced an apparatus for dual perfusion (both maternal and fetal
circuits) which was later modified by other research groups enabling
more systematic studies of placental synthetic, metabolic and transport
functions [68-71]. Dual perfusion of the human placenta has been
extremely useful in understanding transplacental pharmacokinetics
and offers substantial opportunity to enhance drug development
during pregnancy