Advancements in organ transplant technology
New technology is helping doctors to take donated organs out for a test run.
An experimental system, called x-vivo, allows surgeons to put donor lungs in a chamber. Donor blood is replaced with a special fluid and a ventilator inflates the lungs with oxygen allowing them to breathe.
Tampa General Hospital transplant lung specialist Dr. Mark Rolfe says the X-Vivo will allow surgeons at TGH to save organs that would have otherwise been rejected. "Simply put we take wet lungs, dry them out, and make them work better so that's probably 25-percent of the lungs that are turned down every year," he explains.
Typically, when we hear the word transplant, we think of internal organs: like a heart or liver. But surgeons are making strides in more visible transplants, like that of Richard Norris. Disfigured by a gun accident, Richard received a face transplant that included a jaw and nose. Recently, on a 60 minutes Australia episode, he met the sister of his donor for the first time.
Another medical marvel is Sergeant Brendan Morrocco. In 2009, he lost all four of his limbs in a roadside bomb attack. In 2013, Sgt. Morrocco then became the seventh person to get a double arm transplant. A Washington Post Video in 2014 highlights his recovery, where he is able to perform pull ups, with his new arms.