China makes equipment to preserve donated organs for many days

Sheet SCMP On March 16, it was reported that the Institute of Physical and Chemical Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences created a breakthrough in the method of freezing and reviving transplanted organs. Research team leader Rao Wei said her lab has increased the preservation time of animal hearts from 6 hours to 24 hours. For kidney organs, the team also extended the retention time in liquid nitrogen environment from 24 hours to 7 days. The research was published in professional journals Journal of Medical Devicesbelongs to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

The group of experts named this device “Multi-visceral low-temperature machine perfusion system” (MTMP). The device breaks the 0°C limit of traditional perfusion techniques. The research team has successfully applied the device on rat hearts, rabbit kidneys and pig kidneys, preparing for human clinical trials.

This technological achievement promises to completely solve the global organ shortage crisis. Currently, the heart that leaves the donor’s body only maintains life for about 6 hours, the lungs for 9 hours, the liver for 12 hours and the kidneys for 24 hours. Strict time limits forced the American medical community to use helicopters and China to use high-speed trains to race to transport organs. Current transplants are more urgent “emergency surgery” than proactive surgery.

Medical experts assess that if the United States preserves and effectively utilizes half of the donated hearts that are wasted due to expiration, they can completely eliminate the organ transplant waiting list in the next 2-3 years. In China, the MTMP system brings hope to more than 100 million people with chronic kidney disease, in a context where the current supply only meets about 10,000 transplants per year.

Extending the “golden time” of organ preservation helps the medical industry convert organ transplantation to scheduled surgery. Despite bringing great medical benefits, experts also warn that this technological advancement can become a “double-edged sword”, unintentionally creating conditions for transnational organ smuggling rings to operate more strongly if authorities lack control measures.