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Home > Resources > Laboratory News
New Device Preserves Transplant Organs September 23, 2009
The Univ. of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio has announced a licensing agreement with MCD Life Sciences to commercialize a novel organ preservation technology.
The technology, developed after more than a decade of scientific investigations in the Health Science Center School of Medicine, is expected to significantly increase the time that can elapse between removal of donor organs and their transplant into waiting recipients.
The current four to six-hour window could be expanded to as long as a day, the inventors say.
The technology-—a portable, sealed canister that uses a rich medium and small amounts of compressed oxygen to keep hearts, kidneys and livers oxygenated and fed with nutrients-—could replace the traditional method of putting organs in cold medical solution, then on ice for transport.
The worldwide market based on current transplant surgeries is projected to be approximately $400 million, with two-thirds of that estimated to be from kidney transplants. 27,963 organs were transplanted in the U.S. in 2008.
“The device allows 24 hours of preservation, is compact and light, and uses only small amounts of oxygen,” says co-inventor Leon Bunegin. “From the moment an organ is preserved it does not deteriorate in this system, such that the organ after transplant will function as well as it did before it was harvested.”
The canister does not rely on electricity and requires a small bottle of compressed oxygen. Because of this, the entire system weighs less than 15 pounds and is small enough to stow in an in-flight overhead compartment, says Edward Gelineau, co-inventor and research scientist.
Lisa Maier, president of MCD Life Sciences, says the device will allow flexibility for enhanced organ matching to donors, resulting in improved survival and lower rejection rates. It will also reduce the number of discarded organs.
“Medical personnel will be able to transport an organ from any donor to any recipient around the globe,” Maier says. “This is going to increase the donor pool substantially.”
More than 103,600 Americans are now on transplant waiting lists. Bunegin pointed out that many transplants-—currently performed as emergencies-—could be scheduled, giving comfort to patients, families and operating teams.
The device is designed for the heart and kidney, and with adaptations will support the liver and lungs. The Health Science Center has three U.S. patents on the original version invented by Bunegin and the now-retired Bobby O’Dell, plus a U.S. patent pending on the newest version of the device, and soon will file a patent on new designs.
Source: The Univ. of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
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