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US-20260123623-A1 - DEVICES AND METHODS FOR TRANSPORTING AN ORGAN FOR TRANSPLANTATION

US20260123623A1US 20260123623 A1US20260123623 A1US 20260123623A1US-20260123623-A1

Abstract

An organ transportation apparatus is provided. The organ transportation apparatus comprises an insulating enclosure comprising a compartment, a lower receptacle positionable in the compartment configured to hold at least a first type of organ, and an upper receptacle positionable in the compartment above the at least one lower receptacle and configured to hold at least a second type of organ. The organ transportation apparatus is configured to transport different types of organs using different, removable receptacles.

Inventors

  • Mathieu Allard
  • Alexander Shvartsberg
  • Dwarakesh RAMESH

Assignees

  • TRAFEROX TECHNOLOGIES INC.

Dates

Publication Date
20260507
Application Date
20251030

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . An organ transportation apparatus comprising: an insulating enclosure comprising a compartment; a lower receptacle positionable in the compartment configured to hold at least a first type of organ; and an upper receptacle positionable in the compartment above the lower receptacle and configured to hold at least a second type of organ.
  2. 2 . The organ transportation apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the compartment comprises at least one shelf configured to support the upper receptacle, and the upper receptacle comprises at least one flange configured to be positioned on the at least one shelf.
  3. 3 . The organ transportation apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the compartment comprises at least one shelf configured to support the lower receptacle.
  4. 4 . The organ transportation apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one first type of organ comprises a lung and the at least one second type of organ comprises a heart.
  5. 5 . The organ transportation apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a temperature sensor attached to the lower receptacle.
  6. 6 . The organ transportation apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the lower receptacle and the upper receptacle comprise openings that enable airflow.
  7. 7 . The organ transportation apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the lower receptacle comprises at least one recess for receiving at least one projection of the upper receptacle for providing stability to the upper receptacle.
  8. 8 . The organ transportation apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the upper receptacle and the lower receptacle are removable.
  9. 9 . The organ transportation apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the upper receptacle comprises at least one wall defining a chamber for supporting the second type of organ, the chamber sized to accommodate an entire second type of organ.
  10. 10 . The organ transportation apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the lower receptacle comprises at least one wall defining a chamber that is sized to only partially accommodate the first type of organ within.
  11. 11 . The organ transportation apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the at least one wall of the upper receptacle is spaced from a side wall of the compartment to accommodate one or more bags of organ preservation fluid.
  12. 12 . The organ transportation apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising at least one cooling pack positioned within the compartment below the lower receptacle.
  13. 13 . The organ transportation apparatus of claim 12 , wherein a side wall of the compartment has at least one shelf and the lower receptacle is positioned on the at least one shelf such that the lower receptacle is spaced apart from the at least one cooling pack.
  14. 14 . The organ transportation apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising at least one cooling pack positioned above the upper receptacle.
  15. 15 . The organ transportation apparatus of claim 14 , wherein a lid of the apparatus comprises a retainer configured to hold the at least one cooling pack positioned above the upper receptacle.
  16. 16 . The organ transportation apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the retainer is configured to hold the upper receptacle in place.
  17. 17 . A method for transporting one or more organs for transplant, the method comprising: opening an organ transportation apparatus, the apparatus comprising: at least one cooling pack, a first receptacle configured to hold at least a first organ type, and a second receptacle configured to hold at least a second organ type; in accordance with the one or more organs being the first type of organ, positioning one or more bags containing the one or more organs within the first receptacle and closing the organ transportation apparatus with both the first receptacle and the second receptacle within the organ transportation apparatus; in accordance with the one or more organs being the second type of organ, positioning one or more bags containing the one or more organs within the second receptacle and closing the organ transportation apparatus with the second receptacle in the organ transportation apparatus but not the first receptacle; and transporting the organ transportation apparatus to a transplantation site.
  18. 18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the organ transportation apparatus is configured to maintain the one or more organs at a temperature of 8 to 12 degrees C. during storage.
  19. 19 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising removing at least one bag containing organ preservation fluid from the compartment.
  20. 20 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising using at least a portion of the organ preservation fluid in the at least one bag containing organ preservation fluid to flush at least one of the one or more organs.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/715,170, filed Nov. 1, 2024, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. FIELD The present disclosure relates to organ preservation, and more particularly, to organ preservation prior to transplantation. BACKGROUND Preserving a donor organ ex vivo requires very careful handling to ensure that the donor organ remains viable for transplantation. Without proper handling, the donor organ can become damaged beyond repair, ruining the chances for that organ to potentially save a life. For example, currently, only about one in four donor lungs are suitable for transplant, and approximately one in five people waiting for a donor lung dies before they can receive a donor lung. Conventional methods for donor organ preservation include removing the organ from the donor and placing it on ice in a conventional cooler. The donor organ remains on ice until it may be ready to be transplanted into a recipient. Donor organs are often transported from the site of the donor to the site of the organ recipient. This often entails placing a donor organ on ice in a conventional transportable cooler. Such coolers may or may not include the ability to monitor and/or control the temperature of the donor organ, potentially allowing the organ to reach a temperature outside of an optimal range. Care must be taken that the donor organ is properly secured and supported by the transportable cooler to reduce risk of injury to the donor organ during transportation. SUMMARY An apparatus for organ preservation includes a plurality of removable receptacles configured to stably house different types of organs within a cooled compartment for transportation. A user may place an organ contained within a sealed bag of preservation fluid within the particular receptacle that corresponds to the type of organ. The receptacle may be configured to contain and support the particular type of organ so that the organ does not experience excessive motion during transportation. The apparatus may be configured to accommodate receptacles for different types of organs at the same time so that the apparatus can be transported to a transplantation site with receptacles for different types of organs held within. By being able to receive multiple receptacles of different shapes and sizes for different organs, a singular apparatus can enable safer and more convenient transportation of donor organs of different kinds. The apparatus may further include a temperature sensor to monitor the temperature of a donor organ and/or the sealed bag within which the organ is placed. In some embodiments, an organ transportation apparatus is provided, the organ transportation apparatus comprising an insulating enclosure comprising a compartment; a lower receptacle positionable in the compartment configured to hold at least a first type of organ; and an upper receptacle positionable in the compartment above the at least one lower receptacle and configured to hold at least a second type of organ. In some embodiments, the compartment is configured to contain additional organ preservation fluid. In some embodiments, the compartment comprises at least one shelf configured to support the upper receptacle. In some embodiments, the upper receptacle comprises at least one flange configured to be positioned on the at least one shelf. In some embodiments, the compartment comprises at least one shelf configured to support the lower receptacle. In some embodiments, the at least one first type of organ comprises a lung and the at least one second type of organ comprises a heart. In some embodiments, the organ transportation apparatus further comprises a temperature sensor attached to the lower receptacle. In some embodiments, the upper receptacle comprises a slot configured to receive the temperature sensor. In some embodiments, the upper receptacle comprises a cylindrical portion. In some embodiments, the upper receptacle comprises a conical portion. In some embodiments, the upper receptacle comprises an upper portion having a first diameter and a lower portion having a second diameter, wherein the second diameter is smaller than the first diameter. In some embodiments, the lower receptacle and the upper receptacle comprise openings that enable airflow. In some embodiments, the lower receptacle comprises at least one recess for receiving at least one projection of the upper receptacle for providing stability to the upper receptacle. In some embodiments, the upper receptacle and the lower receptacle are removable. In some embodiments, the upper receptacle comprises at least one wall defining a chamber for supporting the second type of organ, the chamber sized to accommodate an entire second type of organ. In some embodiments, the lower receptacle comprises at least one wall defining a chamber that is sized to only partially accommodate the first type of organ wi