Machine Keeps Human Livers Alive for One Week Outside of the Body

[sman]

World Premiere in Zurich: Machine Keeps Human Livers Alive for One Week Outside of the Body

"https://www.media.uzh.ch/en/Press-Releases/2020/Liver.html"

Researchers from the UniversityHospital Zurich, ETH Zurich, Wyss Zurich and the University of Zurich have developed a machine that repairs injured human livers and keeps them alive outside the body for one week. This breakthrough may increase the number of available organs for transplantation, saving many lives of patients with severe liver diseases or cancer.

Until now, livers could be stored safely outside the body for only a few hours. With the novel perfusion technology, livers - and even injured livers - can now be kept alive outside of the body for an entire week. This is a major breakthrough in transplantation medicine, which may increase the number of available organs for transplantation and save many lives of patients suffering from severe liver disease or a variety of cancers. Injured cadaveric livers, initially not suitable for use in transplantation, may regain full function while perfused in the new machine for several days. The basis for this technology is a complex perfusion system, mimicking most core body functions close to physiology. The corresponding study was published on 13 January in the journal Nature Biotechnology.