SQI tests that determine status of Organ...more & more vital Hundreds of people in North America die each year waiting for a lung transplant – but it has little to do with a lack of donors.
About 80 per cent of donated lungs are deemed unsuitable for transplant, according to the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation. That’s because lungs are much more vulnerable to damage and deterioration than other organs.
But Shaf Keshavjee is working on a way to restore donated lungs – and help save lives.
Andrew Sage, an assistant scientist at UHN’s Toronto General Hospital Research Institute and sessional lecturer at U of T, is building rapid diagnostics to swiftly supply doctors with a roadmap for lung repair.
“Our goal is to develop novel testing modalities that can provide detailed information to the surgeon to make enhanced decisions about the organ.”
The rapid diagnostics tool – called the Toronto Lung Score – quickly details the injury status of the organ, inflammation and likelihood of ideal post-transplant outcomes, among other information, based on a small sample of solution that travels through the lungs on the EVLP system. It’s being developed in partnership with SQI Diagnostics, a Toronto-based diagnostics development company.
At present, the tool provides results in under 40 minutes, but the team is working to trim the response time to less than 15.
University of TorontoWorking across disciplines, U of T and UHN researchers are ...But Shaf Keshavjee is working on a way to restore donated lungs – and ... Department of Surgery at the University Health Network (UHN) and....1 day ago