The donor lungs were successfully implanted by Dr. Mindaugas Rackauskas and Dr. Mark Bleiweis at UF Shands Children’s Hospital in Gainesville, Florida. The system won FDA clearance in August 2023 and commercially launched in April.

“UF Shands Children’s Hospital is committed to providing leading-edge and high-quality care to children and their families, and we are proud to do so by utilizing innovative technologies like advanced organ preservation,” Rackauskas, who is the surgical director of the Pediatric Lung Transplant Program at UF Health Shands Hospital, said in a news release. “The ability to actively manage airway pressure and internal temperature is an advancement that is increasing the availability of high-quality donor lungs nationwide. Introducing this technology to the pediatric field will significantly impact the many children on the pediatric donor waiting list.”