Hyperbaric portable organ storage unit, Europe, 1970-1979

Made:
1970-1979 in Europe
Three hyperbaric portable renal storage units  used to Three hyperbaric portable renal storage units  used to

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Three hyperbaric portable renal storage units used to
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Three hyperbaric portable renal storage units used to
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Three hyperbaric portable renal storage units used to transport organs for transplantation at low temperatures. The 3 units are not all complete but should make up one whole with spares.

Organs for transplant surgery were stored and transported at low temperatures inside this hyperbaric unit – ‘hyperbaric’ means that the unit can store organs at a pressure higher than normal atmospheric pressure. Kidneys were transported in this example.

It would be a race against time to get kidneys from a donor to a recipient as these organs can only be used up to 48 hours after donation, although some studies have suggested that hyperbaric oxygen storage can lengthen the time organs remain viable. The unit was made by Vickers Limited Medical Engineering.

Details

Category:
Surgery
Object Number:
2000-285
Materials:
stainless steel, plastic
Measurements:
overall: 380 mm x 610 mm x 413 mm, 28.9 kg
type:
hyperbaric organ storage unit
credit:
Watson-Hopkinson, W.I., Dr.