Researchers have developed an innovative machine that can repair injured human livers, and keep them alive outside the body for one week, and this development might increase the number of available organs for transplantation. According to the researchers, including those from ETH Zurich in Switzerland, injured livers can recover almost complete function under the support of the new technology for several days, with the potential to save the lives of patients suffering from liver disease, or a variety of cancers.
In the journal Nature Biotechnology, the device is described as a complex perfusion system that supports organs by mimicking core body functions of the liver. A co-author from ETH Zurich explained that the success of this unique perfusion system which is developed over a four-year period by a group of surgeons, biologists, and engineers has paved the way for many new…
