A sensor developed to continuously monitor the health of donated lungs prior to transplantation features a modular design of small glass slides. Credit: University of Waterloo
In the UK, more than three-quarters of donated lungs offered for transplantation are not used, contributing to a chronic shortage of organs for patients with end-stage lung disease.
Researchers hope a new medical device incorporating monitoring technology could help change that by continuously measuring key indicators of lung function while donor organs are being maintained outside the body.
Prior to transplantation, donated lungs can be maintained and assessed outside the body using ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP). During the EVLP process, surgeons assess lung health in part by analyzing glucose and lactate levels in a nutrient-containing solution. Those measurements are currently taken about once an hour and require manual sampling and laboratory analysis.
Now, the new device—called MetaboSense—continuously monitors the same biomarkers, giving transplant teams a clearer, more dynamic picture of lung function over time. The devise is comprised of modular glass chips roughly the size of microscope slides.
According to the study in Advanced Science, in both clinical and research trials, MetaboSense's continuous measurements closely matched results from standard laboratory analysis, while also capturing metabolic shifts that occurred in the gaps between hourly manual checks.
Because glucose and lactate are also important health indicators during ex vivo perfusion of other organs, the researchers believe MetaboSense's modular design could eventually be adapted to monitor livers, kidneys, hearts and pancreases as well.
"Our work shows that important metabolic changes can take place in the gaps between manual, hourly samples," said Mahla Poudineh, professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Waterloo, who supervised the study. "Following a lung's metabolic trajectory continuously, rather than hourly, would give transplant teams more and better evidence with which to potentially decide whether to accept or decline it for transplantation."
The researchers hope the added detail MetaboSense provides will not only help transplant teams identify more viable donor lungs but potentially help rehabilitate organs that might otherwise be rejected.
Data from University of Waterloo