To maintain an organ in vitro, the experimenter must generally supply conditions similar to that the organ experiences in vivo. This includes maintenance of a normal temperature range for that organ and replacement of fluids including blood, which supplies oxygen, substrates, hormones and oncotic proteins, as well as providing for a way to remove metabolites and waste products generated by the organ. Because of the size and construction of most organs, simple immersion of the organ in a physiological medium such as Kreb’s or Tyrode’s solution will be inadequate to maintain the cells of the organ because of the exchange limits set by diffusion. Therefore, most organs will be cannulated and the physiological fluids delivered through the circulation system of the organ at pressures in the range of those occurring in vivo.  This perfusion also improves the removal of waste products as well.

Besides maintaining the organ, the isolated organ system must allow the experimenter to perform various maneuvers, which are selected by both the type of experiment proposed and the possible physiological responses of the organ. For example, measurement of contractile function may not be of concern when examining the performance of the liver, but is of great interest in determining the performance of an isolated heart.  Radnoti provides a number of specialized isolated perfused organ systems for liver, kidney and lung. Each system has a design that is optimized for maintaining the organ and permitting specialized instrumentation to be used.

For special applications Radnoti can work with you to custom design systems, such as those for large animals including porcine or canine, or for smaller animals such as transgenic mice, as well as for different organ systems or instrumentation packages. Please do not hesitate to contact Radnoti directly to discuss your individual experimental requirements.