Apparatus and method for maintaining and/or restoring viability of organs
First Claim
1. A system for holding an organ during perfusion, storage and transport of the organ, comprising:
- a portable housing for holding the organ;
an organ perfusion apparatus adapted to receive the portable housing; and
a transporter adapted to receive the portable housing, the transporter being a portable organ perfusion apparatus,wherein the organ perfusion apparatus and the transporter are separate units and the portable housing is configured (1) to hold the organ independently from either of the organ perfusion apparatus or the transporter, (2) to be received by the transporter for transport of the organ, (3) to be separately received by the organ perfusion apparatus for perfusion of the organ, and (4) to allow perfusion, storage, and transport of the organ without removal of the organ from the portable housing.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An organ perfusion apparatus and method monitor, sustain and/or restore viability of organs and preserve organs for storage and/or transport. Other apparatus include an organ transporter, an organ cassette and an organ diagnostic device. The method includes perfusing the organ at hypothermic and/or normothermic temperatures, preferably after hypothermic organ flushing for organ transport and/or storage. The method can be practiced with prior or subsequent static or perfusion hypothermic exposure of the organ. Organ viability is restored by restoring high energy nucleotide (e.g., ATP) levels by perfusing the organ with a medical fluid, such as an oxygenated cross-linked hemoglobin-based bicarbonate medical fluid, at normothermic temperatures. In perfusion, organ perfusion pressure is preferably controlled in response to a sensor disposed in an end of tubing placed in the organ, by a pneumatically pressurized medical fluid reservoir, providing perfusion pressure fine tuning, overpressurization prevention and emergency flow cut-off. In the hypothermic mode, the organ is perfused with a medical fluid, preferably a simple crystalloid solution containing antioxidants, intermittently or in slow continuous flow. The medical fluid may be fed into the organ from an intermediary tank having a low pressure head to avoid organ overpressurization. Preventing overpressurization prevents or reduces damage to vascular endothelial lining and to organ tissue in general. Viability of the organ may be automatically monitored, preferably by monitoring characteristics of the medical fluid perfusate. The perfusion process can be automatically controlled using a control program.
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Citations
48 Claims
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1. A system for holding an organ during perfusion, storage and transport of the organ, comprising:
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a portable housing for holding the organ; an organ perfusion apparatus adapted to receive the portable housing; and a transporter adapted to receive the portable housing, the transporter being a portable organ perfusion apparatus, wherein the organ perfusion apparatus and the transporter are separate units and the portable housing is configured (1) to hold the organ independently from either of the organ perfusion apparatus or the transporter, (2) to be received by the transporter for transport of the organ, (3) to be separately received by the organ perfusion apparatus for perfusion of the organ, and (4) to allow perfusion, storage, and transport of the organ without removal of the organ from the portable housing. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A method of perfusion, storage and transport of an organ, comprising:
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placing the organ in a portable housing; placing the portable housing containing the organ in an organ perfusion apparatus and perfusing the organ in said portable housing in said organ perfusion apparatus without removal of the organ from the portable housing; and placing the portable housing containing the organ in a transporter and transporting the organ in said portable housing in said transporter without removal of the organ from the portable housing, the transporter being a portable organ perfusion apparatus, wherein the organ perfusion apparatus and the transporter are separate units and the portable housing is configured (1) to hold the organ independently from either of the organ perfusion apparatus or the transporter, (2) to be received by the transporter for transport of the organ, and (3) to be separately received by the organ perfusion apparatus for perfusion of the organ, and (4) to allow perfusion, storage, and transport of the organ without removal of the organ from the portable housing. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
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Specification