A human heart destined for transplant lies cradled in a TransMedics Organ Care System. The device can keep a heart warm and beating—and viable for many hours longer than the conventional method for handling donor hearts: immersion in a saline solution and packing in ice.
Note: I am assuming this is the same device that I saw in a national geographic recently.
Many doctors are skeptical about the condition of the hearts for more than just the obvious difficulties in preserving a human heart for even a few hours out of the body. Due to the usage of a certain amount of the bodily fluids from the donor, there is questioning that brain death chemicals may be in the fluids and could have a harmful effect on the patient.
(Source: milesian, via its-a-hilleh)
