'Heart In A Box' Could Change The Future Of Organ Transplants

Australian surgeons have discovered how to revive hearts with a revolutionary transplant surgery.

Until just recently, doctors primarily used organs from brain-dead individuals. Unfortunately, this severely limited the number of procedures that could be completed. With time as a major factors for many in need, health officials have now developed a new technique that uses a device they call a "heart in a box."

"It's very exciting and it really does take me back to 1967 when there was this incredible breakthrough - the first human heart transplant," said a clinical associate professor at New York University and director of integrative medicine at New York Medical Associates Dr. Goodman, via News Max Health "And this is ... also incredibly exciting because it changes the way we may be able to help people."

The new approach allows surgeons to do up to 30 percent more transplants than previously thought possible.

An estimated 4,000 Americans are currently on heart-transplant waiting lists, according to federal health statistics. Unfortunately, about 20 people die every day waiting on the list, as well.

Furthermore, over 122,344 people in the United States are currently waiting for an organ at this time, according to statistics from the American Transplant Foundation; that's another name added to the national transplant waiting list every 12 minutes.

Organ recipients are selected primarily based on medical need, location and compatibility, with the cornea being the most commonly transplanted tissue.

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More information regarding this revolutionary transplant surgery can be seen, here. 

For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).