Further potential

But before the method can be put into clinical use, animal testing must first be carried out, He said, adding that what can be done now is to work to improve the device, making it usable for storing organs other than livers, such as hearts, kidneys and lungs.

He hopes the government will promote the use of the device in such areas.

Chen Xinzi, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said the device harbors tremendous research potential and provides a new technological platform for the study of the clinical applications of organ functions, organ treatment and organ repair outside the human body, as well as possibly helping advance various life science disciplines.

"The success of the new technology is a great contribution by Chinese medical science to the world," said Chen, who is former president of Hong Kong Baptist University and now honorary dean of Sun Yat-sen University's School of Pharmaceutical Science.

However, Zhi Xiuyi, a lung cancer expert with the Xuanwu Hospital at Capital Medical University in Beijing argued that treating cancer outside of the human body has its restrictions. For example, the probability of curing lung cancer outside the patient's body is low at the moment.

"Lung cancer might include lymphatic metastasis along with related diseases, and we cannot take out the affected lymphatic tissue for treatment outside a human body as lung cancer is a systemic disease as opposed to a localized disease," Zhi said.

He Xiaoshun's team began to study the new technology of ischemia-free liver transplants seven years ago. In August, the technology was announced and lauded as a success in liver transplant modalities. Compared with traditional liver transplants, the ischemia-free surgery takes a shorter amount of time, can help reduce complications and shortens the recovery period.

Campbell Fraser, a member of the Transplantation Society of Istanbul, said He's ischemia-free liver transplant method is a breakthrough and represents a contribution to the development and innovation of global organ transplantation.

Many officials from the World Health Organization and experts worldwide visited He's hospital and exchanged views on his innovative liver transplantation method when Guangzhou organized the China-International Organ Donation Congress between Dec 15 and 17.

More than 4,080 transplantation surgeries were carried out in China last year, and the figure is expected to see substantial growth in the coming years, experts said.