Prometeo

Cosa fa?

Prometeo is able to keep a liver for transplant alive outside the human body, enlarging the time for transportation, reducing the waste of lost organs and increasing the donation pool with new typologies of donors. All in a single solid and trackable solution.

La tua ispirazione

Every year in Italy 130 livers for transplants are lost due to the use of a non-specific container for transportation - a food container for pic-nic - and a short operating time, caused by the natural decay of the organ outside the human body. More over an enormous quantity of potential donors are excluded from the transplation process due to an "unknown time of death" of the donor that makes us unable to know the starting point of the organ anoxia and necrosys natural processes. These problems share a common point: they can be solved with an innovative use of the Oxygenate Perfusion process, already used in surgery for cardiac problems.

Come funziona?

Prometeo is based on a process called Continuous Hypothermic Oxygenate Perfusion: a system of pumps linked to the liver is able to exchange a perfusion liquid rich of nutrients from the device to the organ and return. The liquid feeds the organ with oxygen and keeps it to a temperature of 4°C reducing its own metabolism and its energy consumption. The oxygen is generated by a certified air filter and the temperature is set by a couple of Peltier Cells. The components that touch the liver or the perfusion circuit are disposable, and can be sold in great quantity for several operations. The case is designed to insert this disposable kit quickly and to protect and transport the system as a bag. To control the device, a tablet with a custom App must be present: it checks all the phases of the process, localizes the device during the travel and controls the perfusion process giving infos on the lasting time of the batteries, all without touching the device.

Processo di progettazione

This product is a Thesis made for the course of Design and Engineering at Politecnico di Milano. For this reason there are no real prototypes of the product, expecially due to the high fragility of some parts. Nevertheless the project started with an heavy study of the healthcare field and the norms that rule this world. Moreover, after a keen analysis of the transplantation process and the visit to transplants centers and emergency-airplane hangars, the perfusion technique was studied during a travel to Groningen (NL) to Organ Assist, expert in perfusion surgical machines. With all this information the concept was built around some fixed components - like the perfusion disposable kit - thinking to the usability of the product itself and to the movimentation of the device from the hospital, to the plane - - or the ambulance - to another hospital. After this operation, the design was defined and then all the components were engineered to reach a complete view of the device.

In che modo è differente?

At the moment there are no other portable machines for the liver continuous hipothermic oxygenate perfusion, so for this reason it is unique. The market of these devices is small and at the moment the great brands developed solutions for lungs and for kidneys, organs that are easier to be treated. But in a short future is likely possible that they may reach a similar solution for the livers and also a solution for the other human organs.

Progetti per il futuro

As said before, thanks to its unique factors, the main step is to validate the technology and to protect it with a patent. Then a series of prototypes will be necessary for the first inorganic tests. After taking all the certifications for the production and for the Healthcare usability of the product - in this case a A3 Level certificate - we will start the tests on animals and humans.

Premi

(January 2016) Finalist of StartUp acceleration competition "BioUpper" (1st Edition) powered by Novartis, Fondazione Cariplo and Humanitas. (October 2016) ADI Design Index 2016 Targa Giovani Selection (November 2016) Lombardia Design Excellence (Aprile 2018) Compasso d'Oro 2018 Short List