Organ Transport Pty Ltd
Organ Angel
2019
Research, Concept + Development
Organ Angel
Commercialising Medical Discoveries: An organ transport device that preserves and protects the heart during transport from the donor to the recipient.
Organ Angel is an organ transport device that preserves and protects the heart (and in the future other organs) during transport from the donor to the recipient. Organ Angel reduces the damage to organs when outside of the body by creating a sterile and cold environment that pumps or perfuses nutrient solution and oxygen to the heart. Organ Angel can be used in a hospital setting or to transport a heart across Australia on a standard airline seat and allows surgeons to assess organ health prior to implantation. This innovative device capitalises upon 10+ years of research from the Alfred Hospital, Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute (VCCRI), St Vincent’s Hospital, Monash University, UNSW, the Baker Institute and support from the Victorian Government, currently The Royal Adelaide hospital + the South Australian Medical Research Institute. D+I has worked in partnership with Organ Transport Pty Ltd and their partners to bring this life-changing system into reality.
ISO 13485:2016
More hearts for more people
Reducing the damage to organs when outside of the body by creating a sterile + cold environment that pumps or perfuses nutrient solution + oxygen to the heart.
Heart failure is increasing. Hospitalisation costs for patients dying of heart failure are growing. There is a limited availability of hearts for transplant surgery. Many patients die while waiting for a suitable donor organ. Donor hearts deteriorate rapidly, limiting transportation time to a recipient.
The current method of transportation on ice, in an ‘Esky’ (or cooler in the US), on a private jet has a maximum out of body time of 4 hours. Only 27% of hearts are therefore actually used and the rest are discarded because the donor is too far away. A growing incidence of organ failure and an aging population is driving the prevalence of patients that require organ transplants and the global market needs innovative technology. Organ Angel takes the time pressure off complex recipient dissection — transport/storage time is greatly increased during perfusion preservation.
Compliant product system development
Extending the safe transport/storage time with resultant increases in organ availability and improved postoperative recovery.
Having recognised the opportunity to develop a heart transportation vessel capable of extending the safe transportation time by continuously perfusing the heart, enhancing its preservation and reducing post-operative complications, D+I was engaged early on in the development cycle. In partnership with Organ Transport Pty Ltd, continuous user research initiatives were conducted with a number of leading heart surgeons + health professionals lead to a number of unique insights + solutions.
Contributions to the development included: discovering solutions to fundamental usability issues presenting in the workflow of transportation (including the critical handling care required during vehicular transport such as on an aeroplane); electromechanical integration efforts - ensuring all system components work as planned (electronics, tubing, bags, organ container, alarms, power management + displays, as well as logging - pressure, temperature, flow, orientation, impact + fluid levels); creation of a number of functional prototypes for user testing and surgical trials; as well as selecting materials and techniques (optimised design for manufacture and disassembly) compliant with the strict requirements of medical devices.
