First Place in Category #2 – Nursing Injury & Disease

STUDENT: Megan Lucey

PROJECT ADVISOR: Margret Hatch

ABSTRACT

With organ failure being the one of the leading causes of death, there is a demand for organ transplantation. However, this demand exceeds availability. According to the Health Resources & Services Administration, there were over 113,000 people on the transplant waiting list in 2019 with only 36,528 transplants performed in 2018. Due to the donor shortage, there is a limited supply of organs, resulting in many people dying while waiting for one. Even when organs are available for transplant, there is a risk of rejection by the patient’s body and specific criteria required for an organ to be matched to a recipient. To help solve the donor organ shortage, biological artificial organs grown from stem cells are being developed. For this study, a literature search was conducted on artificial organ technologies and the impacts they have on patients in need. Artificial organs grown from a person’s own stem cells offer a promising solution to the issues of organ shortage and complications of transplant rejection. Functional animal organs, such as rat kidneys and lungs have been grown successfully. With a growing waiting list for organ transplants, persons need their voices to be heard and family members and healthcare professionals need to advocate for this new technology. The current unavailability of organs suitable for transplant makes artificial organs a viable option for organ failure patients. Through artificial organs, persons in need of a transplant would no longer be another name on a waiting list but instead would become a life saved.