First in the world
04/14/2025ARIZONA LEADS WORLD IN USE OF NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR ORGAN TRANSPLANTATION THAT FITS IN AIRPLANE SEAT
The next time you board a commercial flight, look around you. You might see a different kind of passenger—one that’s on its way to save a life! The Donor Network of Arizona (DNA) team celebrates being the first in the country, and the world, to successfully deliver a donated kidney for transplant by commercial airline flight using this new, cutting-edge organ preservation technology to its full capacity.
WHAT IS IT?
They call it the Paragonix KidneyVault™ System. Paragonix Technologies—an organ transplant medical device company—specifically designed this FDA-cleared kidney perfusion and preservation system with the most advanced technologies. That includes the ability to:
- Perfuse (run fluids through) the kidney continuously between donor and recipient, including while in flight.
- Remotely monitor perfusion parameters, temperature conditions and other critical data at all times.
- Maintain a consistent hypothermic (optimal cold storage) environment, which has been shown to reduce post-transplant recipient complications compared to traditional static cold storage on ice.
The KidneyVault™ technology aims to allow more organs to be suitable for transplant—particularly by reducing the number of donated organs that go unused—and improve patient outcomes post-transplant compared to previous methods of perfusion or preservation and transportation.
PLEASE KEEP YOUR SEATBELT FASTENED!
This device was designed to fit in an airplane seat in economy class—not checked in as cargo. An attendant (not to be confused with a flight attendant) accompanies the organ device to allow for more complex travel routes, which helps to get more donated organs to the best matching patients on the national organ waiting list safely and efficiently.
“Using the Paragonix KidneyVault is another way we’re showing our commitment to getting every possible organ available to the more than 104,000 people in the U.S. waiting for a lifesaving transplant—90,000 of whom need a kidney,” says Nathan Fine, organ utilization manager at DNA. “For medically complex kidneys, this technology helps us prevent the nonuse of donated organs, which can be heartbreaking for the donor’s family as well as our team.”
With this, and other, advanced preservation and perfusion techniques, DNA has dramatically increased the use of donated organs. As of November 2024, the average number of organs transplanted per donor rose from 1.96 to 2.82, nearly one more organ per donor, which translates to hundreds of more organs getting transplanted per year.
MORE ABOUT PARAGONIX TECHNOLOGIES
Paragonix Technologies is a leading developer, manufacturer and service provider in the organ transplant industry, establishing a novel approach to organ preservation. Paragonix Technologies provides Advanced Organ Preservation (“AOP”) devices that safeguard donor organs during the journey between donor and recipient patients. Our FDA-cleared and CE-marked devices incorporate clinically proven and medically trusted cold preservation techniques that allow unprecedented physical and thermal protection to the organ during transit. All Paragonix AOP devices are natively integrated with our novel digital app, delivering real-time organ tracking data and monitoring logistics for transplant teams seeking a secure and centralized solution. For more information, visit Paragonix.com.