Take the tube: Raumedic expertise used in liver transplant device

Raumedic is producing a complex tubing set that simulates vital bodily functions for Metra, a new device for liver transplants from the British firm OrganOx.

Within the system, the disposable set helps to keep donor livers perfused outside of the body for up to 24 hours.

Shortly after the liver is connected to the transplant device, very quickly, the Raumedic tubing set is filled with the packed red blood cells. The pump head works like an artificial heart to circulate the blood through the tubing from the filter bag to the oxygenator. The latter functions as the lung would to enrich to blood with oxygen and maintain body temperature. Syringes supply the donor organ with the necessary nutrient solutions.

More than 200 components are produced and assembled for the tubing set. Various silicone and PVC tubes, ECC connectors and product-specific moulded parts are used. All of the individual parts are manually assembled in the cleanroom of the Raumedic HQ in Helmbrechts. Then the tubing sets are packaged, EtO-sterilised and shipped to the customer.