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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSpeaking of hearts . . . .
The Organ Care System pumps blood and nutrients through a human heart before transplant surgery. (Credit:Josh Kurz/Vimeo.com)
'Lung In A Box' Keeps Organs Breathing Before Transplants
by Michaeleen Doucleff
February 10, 2014 12:49 PM
When doctors rush a lung to a hospital for a transplant, the precious cargo arrives in the operating room in a container that seems more appropriate for Bud Light a cooler filled with ice.
That's been the protocol for donated organs for decades. Doctors drop them into a plastic bag and put them on ice. But lungs soon stop breathing. Hearts stop beating. The organs essentially shut down and start to deteriorate.
This means doctors have only about five to 10 hours to get the lung from the donor into the recipient. If the travel time is too long, the organ can't be used and goes to waste.
Now a team of doctors and engineers in Massachusetts is trying to change that.
An experimental device keeps a lung warm, breathing and nourished while outside the body.(Credit:MediCommConsultants/YouTube.com)
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/02/07/273174533/lung-in-a-box-keeps-organs-breathing-before-transplants
Scuba
(53,475 posts)Squinch
(51,075 posts)Though it didn't breathe like that....
rug
(82,333 posts)Squinch
(51,075 posts)reusrename
(1,716 posts)Like oooohhhhmmmmm.....
Squinch
(51,075 posts)Whisp
(24,096 posts)I wasn't expecting that pic!
I'm getting sick of DU having to accommodate those that are so sensitive they shouldn't even be on the internet in the first place, much less go outside..
freshwest
(53,661 posts)rug
(82,333 posts)You have one just like it under your shirt.
And it's doing the same thing!
And ...
rug
(82,333 posts)840high
(17,196 posts)a heart.
A HERETIC I AM
(24,381 posts)Please!
Are you 12?
Sheesh.
"OH! I CAN'T LOOK AT A HUMAN ORGAN OPERATING!"
For crying out loud.
Whisp
(24,096 posts)The OP doesn't have to change the title or do anything he doesn't want. It was just a simple request in case others feel the same - it was not an order or a command or a demand for insertion into the ToS or Community Standards or doing piss all the the overall of DU.
Just a simple friggen request. If it's denied, I'm not going to go all CAPS and ballistic.
There are some things that need warnings, I am super sensitive to gore in movies and shit - and the sight of that gif gave me a very uncomfortable reaction.
Now, go back to your stroke.
A HERETIC I AM
(24,381 posts)again, there are some people who probably shouldn't be on the internet.
Or is it that you see DU as a safe haven from "gore" and the like?
Who pissed in my Cheerios?
Well, with regard to this thread, apparently......
You.
And FWIW, I'm looking forward to my first. One killed my dad 14 years ago, so I know it's coming. Thanks!
840high
(17,196 posts)have one.
Solly Mack
(90,798 posts)A HERETIC I AM
(24,381 posts)Just in case there were any doubts.
Edited for egregious grammar error.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Now if we could just put in a redundant copy for emergencies ...
Solly Mack
(90,798 posts)bemildred
(90,061 posts)Yeah, I think they could almost do that too. It would drive the surgeon nuts figuring out how to connect things perhaps.
Solly Mack
(90,798 posts)and I'd like to think the scientist in them would welcome the challenge.
PumpkinAle
(1,210 posts)watching the heart and lung work - I am just intrigued by this stuff. To me it is amazing that these organs do so much work.
As for the doctors & engineers who are working on this - great job and well done.
Thanks OP.
Cleita
(75,480 posts)Some of us are sensitive to viewing body parts and blood.
truedelphi
(32,324 posts)Is not for the faint hearted!