Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Device Keeps Liver Alive Outside Body For 24 Hours

Posted by timothy on from the pure-whiskey dept.

kkleiner writes "A new device will keep a liver alive outside of the human body for up to 24 hours. Developed at Oxford, the OrganOx circulates oxygenated red bloods cells and nutrients through the liver while maintaining the proper temperature. Doctors estimate that this new technique could double the number of livers available, saving the lives of thousands who die every year awaiting transplant."

7 of 62 comments (clear)

  1. Wait a minute by WOOFYGOOFY · · Score: 4, Funny

    If the subject is a liver then in what sense is it remarkable that they're kept alive?

  2. cool, but the Ex Vivo Lung is just breathtaking by knopf · · Score: 5, Interesting

    At the Toronto General Hospital they have a full lung living outside the body. They talked about it in this short TED segment. Ex Vivo Lung: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2EmuyHoMAI

  3. Try the brain next by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Head in a jar, here we come!

  4. Right tech/wrong place by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    I need a device to keep my liver alive inside my body.

  5. Re:Figures they'd do the liver first by Sarten-X · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Because you know, all those people with defective, cancerous, or physically-damaged livers don't really need the second chance, either.

    Yes, you've been told through all thirteen years of your life that drinking and abusing drugs can damage your liver. That doesn't mean it's the only way a liver can be damaged.

    --
    You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
  6. Perhaps they didn't have a choice? by Junta · · Score: 3, Informative

    The liver is one of the more resiliant organs (the only one that can regenerate). It's probably the easiest organ to start with.

    --
    XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
  7. The problem isn't just supply by Albanach · · Score: 3, Informative

    This is quite specific to liver transplants in the United States. Here most patients who die while awaiting a liver transplant have had an offer of a donor liver. 55% of patients who die have had the offer of a high-quality donor liver.

    Increasing supply will always be a good thing, but there are huge issues to be addressed in making sure those on the US wait list for a liver transplant actually get a transplant from the available organ supply. It seems patients and doctors are turning down way too many good organs.

    "Our data show that the current liver allocation system has provided one or more transplant opportunities to nearly all candidates before death/delisting. Therefore, simply increasing the availability of de-ceased donor livers or the number of offers may not substantially reduce wait-list mortality." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22841780