Is Artificial Intelligence The New Logistics Technology For Organ Transportation?

In the United States, an estimated 114,000 people were waiting for organ transplants, and only 30% of those got their organs on time in 2019. According to Kaiser Health News and Reveal from the Center of Investigative Reporting,?nearly 170 organs could not be transplanted . Almost 370 endured near misses with delays of two hours or more because of transportation problems.

According to the?American Transplant Foundation , 20 people die each day because they do not receive their lifesaving organs in time, making the number of annual deaths greater than 40,000.

Patti Niles ?is CEO of?Southwest Transplant Alliance , a non-profit organ procurement organization. Niles says that geography is always their most significant issue when it comes to transporting organs.

“The distance that organs can travel before they are transplanted varies by organ-based on how long they can stay outside of the body and successfully be transplanted,” said Niles. “Either in a temperature-controlled environment or on a perfusion pump that artificially simulates body functioning for the organ, that time can vary from several hours to up to 2 days.”

Niles says that because organs travel via charter plane, commercial flight, or courier more frequently than ever before, that has resulted in increased risk in the transportation of organs.

“Because our organization is committed to saving lives and providing healthy organs for transplant, we are looking to innovate through any transportation challenges that might be a barrier to fulfilling our mission,” added Niles.

“We have also sought out technology partners that have devices to regulate the temperature of the organ or artificially pump the organ so that the amount of time it can be outside of the body is longer,” said Niles. “This gives us more time for transportation.”

Niles adds that the Alliance has seen recent improvements through GPS technology that provides tracking and alerts if there are disruptions along the transportation route.?

Reg Seeto, CEO and President of?CareDx , a health tech company dedicated to transplant patient care, says that with more than 100,000 people on the transplant waitlist, it's critical to ensure organs get to their intended recipients.?

"This will expand the supply to increase the number of people who receive a life-saving transplant," adds Seeto. "Organ procurement organizations need tools to track their quality metrics better and follow up on issues in their process. There is a real opportunity to support peri-transplant with technology that can keep the organs viable longer and improve outcomes.”

Drones, logistics and AI

Jimi Henderson, Vice President of Sales,?Silvus Technologies , says that AI plays a critical role in increasing the efficiency of matching organ donors with transplant recipients.

“However, there are still significant logistical hurdles to rapid and reliable organ delivery, particularly in urban environments and high-traffic areas where delivery times can be delayed,” said Henderson.?

In April 2019, the?University of Maryland Unmanned Aircraft Systems Test Site? conducted the first drone delivery ?of a live organ for transplant into a waiting patient, a?44-year-old former Veterans Administration nurse ?in her eighth year of dialysis. Silvus partnered with the Test Site to provide tactical wireless communications, including audio and video, for the entirety of transport with their?Silvus StreamCaster radios .

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