Royal Papworth Hospital could promote ‘lung in a box’ transplants.

Surgeons hope a new machine that keeps lungs alive outside the body could “transform” the number of people receiving transplants.

The breakthrough comes at the Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridgeshire as it becomes the first in the UK to pilot the use of the XPS system.

The machine, nicknamed the “lung in a box,” mimics the human body and surgeon Marius Berman said it could increase the number of transplants by 30 percent.

Events manager Daniel Evans-Smith, 49, from Northampton, was the first person on the NHS to receive a double lung transplant using the system and said he was “extremely grateful”.

About 81% of lungs are rejected for transplantation. Because they are swollen or in poor condition.

This machine improves organ health, using a ventilator to inflate and deflate the lungs. Liquids containing nutrients and oxygen are also pumped through them.

This technique is called ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP). This means that donated lungs that are considered “borderline” for use can be reconditioned and used instead of being discarded.

Organs are kept at body temperature for up to six hours.

The one-year pilot has been funded by NHS England and the Royal Papworth Charity.

The machine was previously only used in UK research trials.

NHS Blood and Transplant Medical Director Professor Derek Manns said there was “increasing evidence” that the technology could “enable more transplants by improving organ efficiency”.

In spite of Change in law on consent to organ donation In 2019, the hospital said there was a shortage of donated lungs, so the machine was making the most of them.

Professor Manas said more than 200 people were waiting for a lung transplant, which “significantly” exceeded the number of suitable donor organs.

Having the lungs “live” outside the body also allows surgeons to test the organ, which means transplants have a better chance of success.

Mr Evans-Smith quit smoking 12 years ago, but developed chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a lung condition that causes breathing difficulties.

He suffered a collapsed lung on five occasions and spent a total of six months in hospital before the transplant.

He was about to be discharged when he was awakened by nurses who informed him that a donor lung had been found.

The organs were put on ice and flown to Cambridge, where they were machined to “re-condition” them before transplant.

Mr Evans-Smith said it was an “honour to be selected”.

He said: “This time last year there was a conversation, some hospitals said I needed to talk about palliative care, because if I didn’t get a transplant soon, I was likely to I will not live.”

Now he is hoping to raise funds for the team that saved his life.

“Now I can do hills without thinking about it, I don’t need to rest when I’m out and about town,” he said. “I can’t thank them enough”.

Marius Berman, surgical lead for transplantation at the Royal Papworth Hospital, said he was “very proud to be the first hospital in the UK to use this machine” outside of clinical trials.

Other technology exists, but surgeons said the simplicity of the machine allows people to train quickly and some alternatives require the surgical team to travel to the donor, which can be expensive.

He said 30 per cent of people on the lung transplant list died and Mr Evans-Smith had “a very small window of opportunity”.

“Daniel would not be with us today without a lung transplant, and we could not have lung transplants without EVLP,” he added.

Royal Papworth Hospital performs more lung transplants than any other center in the UK, with 41 completed last year.