Tampa General Hospital researchers have developed a new device that could extend the usability of transplant hearts by three hours.
The Synchronization Modulation Electric Field device maintains the sodium-potassium pump functions and generates adenosine triphosphate modules. It can effectively work in situations with limited or lack of ATP supply, such as in hypoxia, according to a July 24 system news release. This allows the donor hearts to be protected for up to eight hours during transit and improves the organ's function.
Traditionally, donor hearts last about five hours in transit before deteriorating. With an extended time for transfer, more hearts could become available for transplantation.
The device was developed through a $500,000 grant by Lucian Lozonschi, MD, professor and director of the division of cardiothoracic surgery and transplantation at the University of South Florida Health Morsani College of Medicine, and Ruisheng Liu, MD, PhD, professor in the department of molecular pharmacology and physiology at the same institution.