UVA Health Unveils OrganOx Perfusion And Precision Coolers To Extend Organ Viability And Expand Transplant Access

UVA Health Deploys OrganOx Perfusion And Precision Coolers To Improve Organ Transplant Outcomes

USA: UVA Health is using two new technologies to preserve and transport donated organs from procurement to implantation, aiming to expand access to transplantation and reduce organ injury. The hospital’s program leaders say the tools address different threats to organ viability and could make operations safer for more patients.

One device in use is OrganOx, a machine developed for liver perfusion that keeps organs at near-normal body temperature while circulating nutrient fluids to mimic blood supply. By maintaining active metabolism and nutrition, clinicians report the liver can recover function and be assessed more accurately before transplantation, potentially improving outcomes for recipients.

The second advance is a new electric cooler that allows teams to set and hold an exact temperature during transport. Precise temperature control reduces the cell changes and cold-related damage that can occur in traditional ice storage, and enables organs to travel longer distances to reach waiting patients.

Dr. Philip Carrott, director of the lung transplant program at UVA Health, explained that cold storage can prompt cellular stress and injury; technologies that preserve temperature and circulation aim to limit that harm. Hospital leaders say the combined approach — normothermic perfusion for select organs and guarded hypothermia during transit — is intended to make transplant procedures more available and safer for patients in need.

Video originally published on 2026-04-24 19:05:03