Groningen, The Netherlands, 27 january 2015 – The University of Pittsburgh and the UPMC have published their recent research with the Liver Assist. Dr. Paulo Fontes has perfused livers at subnormothermia with an artifical oxygen carrier solution.
The results of the pre-clinical research Dr. Fontes with the Liver Assist has performed has been published in the American Journal of Transplantation (Volume 15, Issue 2, Article first published online: 22 januari 2015). The project in Pittsburgh has been a cooperation of Organ Assist with Dr. Fontes.
Paulo Fontes and his colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, UPMC and Pitt’s McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine have developed machine-perfusion technology that preserves donor livers by pumping them with a form of cold artificial blood known as a “cell-free oxygen-carrier solution.”
“The data from the studies have been shared with federal regulators”, Paulo Fontes says “with the aim of launching a clinical trial to test the system at UPMC this year”.
“This system has great potential to enhance our current standards for organ preservation, which should translate into more patients getting a life-saving procedure with potentially better outcomes,” Dr. Fontes said. “Not only that, we have hopes of a faster recovery because the liver could be less likely to become injured due to a lack of oxygen.”
