Liver transplants
Not sure if this should be in Science or Health?
I have just seen something that may well help people waiting for liver transplants.
It says that up till now, livers have been stored on ice, but this can damage it and limit the length of time it can be stored, and about one third of donated livers end up being unusable.
Now they have got a new machine called a Perfusion machine which works by storing livers at body temperature, and pumping them with blood and medicines, and this allows them to recover from any damage.
This has now been approved for use on the NHS.
They are hoping this machine will be able to fix livers that would previously have been considered unsuitable for transplant, such as those donated from the elderly or ill people.
The article says that livers have the ability to regrow and only need as little as 25% of the original tissue to do this.
Hopeful news for the future, for those gravely ill and awaiting a transplant no doubt.