About us
Guided Instrumentation for Fetal Therapy and Surgery (GIFT-Surg) is an international research project developing the technology, tools and training necessary to make fetal surgery a viable possibility. We focus on the treatment of congenital birth defects such as spina bifida, twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome and congenital diaphragmatic hernia. The project is a collaboration between King’s College London, University College London and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, as well as clinical partners Great Ormond Street Hospital, University College London Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and UZ Leuven.
Innovation
Minimally invasive surgery is paramount to ensuring safe and effective treatment for fetal surgery. Surgeons have greater ability to work in a fragile, complex and real-time environment more successfully. That’s why GIFT-Surg is divided into multiple work packages to better manage the delivery of components.
For patients
We are recruiting volunteers to support our research. If you, or someone you know, is affected by any of the conditions our research focuses on (congenital diaphragmatic hernia, spina bifida, or twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome) and would be interested in taking part, please view our current patient studies.
“Thanks to recent technological advances and innovative interventional imaging systems, fetal surgery is becoming an increasingly viable option for the treatment of congenital problems in the womb.
Our aim with GIFT-Surg is to bring breakthrough transformations and improvements in fetal therapy, resulting in safer minimally invasive techniques and better outcomes for the fetus and the mother.”
Professor Sebastien Ourselin,
Principal Investigator
Latest news and events
New creative collaboration between GIFT-Surg and Twins Trust supports parents’ understanding of rare pregnancy complications
GIFT-Surg researchers collaborated with charity partner Twins Trust to create a series of illustrations explaining rare medical ...
Novel MRI measurements lead to better understanding of placental development during pregnancy
New research from GIFT-Surg and the University of South Australia has shown that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be used to gather
New method to create patient-specific models of placental blood flow can improve understanding of conditions affecting the fetus
Researchers have found a new method to create patient-specific models of placental blood flow, which can lead to a better understanding
