Machine Keeps Human Livers Alive for One Week Outside of the Body

Until now, livers could be stored safely outside the body for only a few hours. With the novel perfusion technology, livers — and even injured livers — can now be kept alive outside of the body for an entire week. This is a major breakthrough in transplantation medicine, which may increase the number of available organs for transplantation and save many lives of patients suffering from severe liver disease or a variety of cancers.