The long-term objective is to develop a system that will provide vital organ support and hence increased preservation periods for organs donated for transplant. The technology could dramatically impact the field of transplantation in terms of quantity, quality, and equitable distribution of organs. Such a system will provide time needed to achieve HLA testing and enhance the environment, thus improving organ posttransplant performance and allowing broad geographic distribution of organs. The initial phase of the project will be to duplicate and adopt previous animal cardiac research to current equipment. Upon demonstration of efficacious utilization with dog hearts, prototypes will be developed for human evaluation. Initially, six human hearts that are unacceptable for whole-organ transplant will be studied. Appropriate metabolic parameters will be examined to verify adequacy of support in the human heart. A clinical evaluation will then commence in 10 clinical transplant centers, and recipients will be followed to determine short-term organ survival. Cardiac application will provide economic resources and social incentive to develop systems for other organs. Lung, heart-lung, liver, and kidney constitute current development priorities.Awardee's statement of the potential commercial applications of the research:Utilization of the vital support systems described here would allow for a more efficient use of limited organ resources while lowering retrieval and transportation costs. Current cardiac transplants number 1,500 in the United States, with approximately 42 percent being utilized within local regions. Expansion of geographical boundaries by removing time barriers and allowing HLA testing would impact the field tremendously.National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
