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05 Jun 2018
IISc team develops LifeBox for storing harvested-organs for longer times
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In a revolutionary medical development, a team of Bengaluru's Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has developed an innovative, state-of-the-art organ preservation box.
'LifeBox' is aimed to increase an organ's longevity, even when it's transported by road.
Currently, organs are injected with a preservation-fluid and cooled in iceboxes, which with time, loses its qualities.
With rising demand, harvested organ transportation is gaining steam.
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Research
Currently, LifeBox can preserve only heart, but work is on
![Currently, LifeBox can preserve only heart, but work is on]( "Currently, LifeBox can preserve only heart, but work is on")
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Developed by researchers Deval Karia and Rohit Nambiar, 'LifeBox' is currently designed to preserve harvested hearts only, but work is on to encompass other organs.
Though Green Corridor, the on-road organ transportation system, has helped thousands of organ-recipients, it has several drawbacks.
"The window's narrow, and requires a tremendous amount of effort and coordination between regulatory-authorities," says Prof Ashitava Ghosal, who supervised the duo.
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Why is LifeBox the need of the hour?
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"Drone transportation is a promising alternative. However, it comes with its inherent challenges; primary among them being the duration for which a heart can be stored before it becomes unviable, the availability of power and the limitations of weight," one of the researchers said.
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Facts
LifeBox would ensure the heart would keep pumping
![LifeBox would ensure the heart would keep pumping]( "LifeBox would ensure the heart would keep pumping")
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Alternatives to air-transportation is expensive, costing around Rs. 2L.
Moreover, harvested hearts can easily be rendered useless by hypoxic/ischemic injury and protein denaturation.
That's when LifeBox comes in.
Its structure ensures temperature is maintained at around 4-8 degrees and metabolites are regulated to impede heart-metabolism.
Additionally, fluids that would be constantly pumped would ensure the heart would keep beating, even when on the move.
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Quote
This innovation is being patented, said the IISc researchers
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"This new design has helped achieve an estimated 91% reduction in energy consumption and a 65% weight reduction for a six-hour preservation-time. This is when compared to a benchmark device currently undergoing FDA approval in the USA. This innovation is being patented," said the researchers.
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Past events
Last month, machine capable of storing-liver for 24-hours entered India
![Last month, machine capable of storing-liver for 24-hours entered India]( "Last month, machine capable of storing-liver for 24-hours entered India")
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Last month, an organ preservation box named OrganOx metra made it to the news.
It enables storage of livers for a whopping 24 hours, and that too at room temperature, thus allowing assessment.
Developed by an Oxford University team, the "normothermic machine" was put on clinical trials in 2013; till now, 200 transplants have been conducted using livers kept inside it.
