The following story from the UK is outside the realm of building awareness for organ, eye and tissue donation however may have significant impact on organ transplantation. Many times organs are being turned down by transplant centers because of the distance from the donor hospital to transplant center. Fast-growing life sciences technology development specialist, Team Consulting in Cambridge is helping to develop a new device that could have a profound effect on organ transplantation.The company has been appointed by Oxford University spin-out, Organox to turn its new invention - a device that keeps organs alive outside of the body for up to three time longer than is currently possible - into a manufacture-ready product in just over a year.
The invention sustains life in organs by supplying them with oxygenated blood while they are maintained at normal body temperatures. The device has been developed by academic founders of OrganOx, Professor Peter Friend, a leading transplant surgeon, and Dr Constantin Coussios, a biomedical engineer. In the first instance, the product will be used to improve and prolong the condition of livers during transport before transplantation.
OrganOx Ltd, a spin out from the Oxford University’s Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Nuffield Department of Surgery raised £1.5m in Series A funding in December 2008.
The OrganOx technology will enable livers to be preserved for up to three days, more than three times longer than is possible by conventional cold storage. The company expects that it will also enable livers currently deemed unsuitable for transplant to recover to an acceptable standard.
“Our technology will enable the number of suitable livers available for organ transplantation to be increased,” said Dr Les Russell, the CEO of OrganOx.
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