Despite the continued increase of transplants worldwide, there is still a huge mismatch between the prevalence of end-stage organ disease and the number of donors. Both artificial and bioartificial solutions and xenotransplantation have been proposed for replacing almost every organ.

The recent rise of machines for ex-situ organ perfusion has opened up the opportunity of reconditioning or even gene-therapeutically modifying organs to repair the impressive number of organs that are discarded today.

This special issue aims at collecting articles in the field of current developments in artificial organs such as artificial lungs (oxygenators), ventricular assist devices (VADs), total artificial hearts (TAHs), renal support/replacement devices, liver replacement devices, (bio)artificial pancreas which can be used as

- bridge to transplant
- bridge to recovery or
- destination therapy

Studies on the clinical outcome, quality of life and/or cost effectiveness of these different approaches in comparison to transplantation are also welcome.

Additionally, we are looking for articles on current technical developments on ex-situ perfused organs (heart, lung, kidney, or liver) in the sense of

- organ transport systems
- organ-perfusion systems used for evaluating and/or reconditioning organs for transplantations, or
- organ-perfusion systems for performing research on the respective organs (e.g. imaging techniques, drug-distribution to tumors, etc.)”

Lastly, we are particularly interested in future visions regarding changes in the organ transplant landscape that will lead to increased safe perfusion times and combine machine perfusion with regenerative medicine techniques to improve organ transplant outcomes.

Important
As a Gold open access journal, all submissions are subject to publishing fees. Fee solutions are available on a case-by-case basis, including a number of Institutional Agreements. Please contact the editorial office if you have any questions.

Please see the following pages for:
Publishing Fees
Author Guidelines

Article types and fees

This Special Issue accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Special Issue description:

• Brief Research Report
• Consensus Report
• Editorial
• Executive Summary
• Forum
• Guidelines
• In Memoriam
• Letter to the Editor
• Meeting Report
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Special Issue accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Special Issue description:

• Brief Research Report
• Consensus Report
• Editorial
• Executive Summary
• Forum
• Guidelines
• In Memoriam
• Letter to the Editor
• Meeting Report
• Mini Review
• News and Views
• Original Research
• Point of View
• Position Paper
• Protocol
• Registry Report
• Review
• Special Article
• Statistical Insights
• Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
• Transplant Trial Watch

Keywords: Artificial Organs, Bioartificial Organs, Ex-vivo perfusion, Ex-situ perfusion, Machine Perfusion, Organ banks, Implantable devices, Artificial lungs, Oxygenators, Ventricular assist devices (VADs), Total Artificial Hearts (TAHs), renal support/replacement