A milestone! The Medical University of Innsbruck and a Tyrolean biotechnology company are leading the development of a new transport method. Kidneys from pig carcasses remain functional for up to 120 hours.
Using the new transport technology, removed pig kidneys were transported from the US to Tyrol five times – and this was the first time in the world in sub-zero temperatures. It was proven that the organ was still fully functioning after 72 hours of transport!
Functional up to 120 hours
The technology, developed over the past three years, ensures that the kidneys are preserved for transplantation for up to 120 hours. Part of the know-how and the required device (Time Seal) comes from the Tyrolean biotechnology company X-Therma. After transport, the organs are rewarmed in the Organ LifeTM laboratory in Innsbruck.
Store below zero degrees without ice formation
“Organs can be stored and transported outside the body below freezing for several days – without icing,” explains top physician and transplant researcher Gerald Brandacher, co-director of the Department of Visceral, Transplantation and Thoracic Surgery (VTT) at the Medical Center for Medicine. University of Innsbruck.
Improve global organ exchange?
The benefits? “This means we can match organs much better and use more complex methods to get the best organ for a recipient that will last better and longer,” says the researcher. Now you could even consider exchanging organs worldwide. This dramatically increases the donor pool.
By comparison: During previous transports, a kidney could only be preserved for 24 hours.
Also a model for other organs?
What works for the kidneys should also work for the heart, liver and other organs. Brandacher also had every confidence. There are already “first preliminary tests” at the Med University that are “promising”. Of course, you have to make an ‘adjustment’ here – the organs are different, for example in volume and tissue consistency.
For example, the liver would require a larger shipping container for the flight. Here too, a “milestone” would be urgently needed; in the case of the heart, there is currently only four hours between removal and transplantation.
Source: Krone
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