SRF - Zurich researchers succeed in transplanting damaged liver
01-06-2022 – For the successful transplant, the multidisciplinary research team treated the damaged liver outside the body in a machine for three days and then implanted the recovered organ into the patient.
Two years ago, the research team led by Pierre-Alain Clavien, Director of the Clinic for Visceral and Transplant Surgery at the University Hospital Zurich, reported that it was able to keep damaged donor livers alive for seven days.
This is made possible by the perfusion machine developed by the Liver4Life team that imitates the human body: A pump replaces the heart, an oxygenator the lungs, a dialysis unit the kidneys. Hormone and nutrient infusions take over what the intestines and pancreas would normally provide. And rhythmic movements mimic the rise and fall of the diaphragm when breathing.
