Device Keeps Liver Alive Outside Body For 24 Hours

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."

Comments

Wait a minute

[WOOFYGOOFY]

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

cool, but the Ex Vivo Lung is just breathtaking

[knopf]

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

Right tech/wrong place

[Anonymous Coward]

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

Re:Figures they'd do the liver first

[Sarten-X]

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.