A new machine which keeps lungs alive outside of the body could “transform” the number of people receiving transplants, surgeons hope. The breakthrough has come at Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridgeshire after it became the first in the UK to pilot the use of the XPS system. The machine, nicknamed “lungs in a box”, mimics the human body and surgeon Marius Burman said it could increase the number of transplants by 30%. Daniel Evans-Smith, a 49-year-old event manager from Northampton, was the first to receive a double lung transplant using the system on the NHS and said he was “immensely grateful”. Despite the lengthy wait for a transplant, Mr Evans-Smith was just eight weeks waiting for the new lungs. He suffered a collapsed lung on five occasions and spent a total of six months in hospital before the transplant. The organs were put on ice and transported to Cambridge, where they were placed in the machine to be “reconditioned” before transplant. Mr Evans-Smith can now walk up the stairs to his flat without having to think about it, he doesn’t have to rest when he’s out and about around town, and he can now do hills without having to think about it. He is now hoping to fundraise for the team that saved his life.
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