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At a small number of hospitals the highly specialized technique of amniofiltration is available. This technique enables the doctor to extract a sample of amniotic fluid from the uterus, remove the fetal cells for analysis, and replace the excess fluid. The technique has the advantage over other tests (such as amniocentesis) in that it can be carried out from the earlier time of 11 to 12 weeks, in spite of the limited amount of amniotic fluid present at this time. It is usually offered only to women who are known to have a definite risk factor for chromosomal abnormalities.