'Heart in a Box' saves Minnesota man's life

[KSTP-TV News, February 18, 2021] Currently, 3,511 Americans are waiting to receive a heart transplant. That includes 122 Minnesotans.

Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation (MHIF)  is one of only seven clinical sites in the country participating in a new research study to evaluate a piece of new technology that has the potential to change the way heart transplants are done.

It's called 'Heart in a Box' and is made by TransMedics. It's a portable, warm perfusion and monitoring system designed to keep a donor heart at a human-like, metabolically active state. By monitoring key parameters of the functioning heart, physicians may use their medical judgment to assess a potentially suitable heart's condition and viability.