Asporto
There are currently 3,080 people waiting for a donated heart. Many on the waitlist die before receiving their donated heart is because many donated hearts - about 20% of donated hearts – are not used. The reasons for these unusable, or marginal, hearts point to the mere 2-4 hour timeframe organ procurement organizations and transplant teams have to find a recipient before the heart tissue begins to deteriorate – and an even shorter window for hearts that are not in perfect condition.
The solution is the Asporto // heart preservation device which keeps hearts viable roughly twice as long as the current system, with the potential of preserving hearts for 24 hrs.
Hibernicor’s heart preservation device called Asporto, about the size of a 16-quart portable cooler, controls the administration of a saline-based fluid to the donor heart during cold (hypothermic) storage. The device can be described as an insulated container containing a peristaltic pump, microcomputer, touchscreen, 120/220 Volt power converter, thermoelectric cooler, and a sterile disposable kit (heart container). The pump moves saline (cardioplegia) contained in an intravenous bag to the aortic root of the donor heart.
Ongoing studies in collaboration with cardiovascular surgeons at the University of Minnesota have shown that the Asporto significantly improves the quality of the isolated donor heart. Use of the Asporto // heart preservation device prevents myocardial pH from falling below the limit that initiates cell death. In addtion, a pre-clinical feasiblity study was completed at the University of Minnesota showed the Asporto is capable of preserving the donor heart for six hours, double the conventional storage time. Clinical studies will begin following approval of the device in a 510k approval pathway.
Want to know more?
Cardiovascular Engineering, Vol. 10, No. 1 2005