Re: the Feb. 18 article "Organs for transplants often get lost, delayed on flights, study finds."
The University of Arizona has a long and effective history in organ transplantation, particularly the heart and lung. Having been a participant in the program for 1983-87 and being chief of service for the Minneapolis Heart Institute transplant program for over 20 years, I read with interest the front-page article by JoNel Aleccia on organ waste in which she confirms prior data of up to 30% unnecessary organ discard. In an era where over 113,000 patients are awaiting organ donation, not a single organ can be wasted, thus OmniLife Inc has developed a mobile app to address this and other issues inherent in organ donation and recovery. Ms Aleccia rightly notes that outmoded means of communication and information sharing contribute to this organ waste. The OmniLife app, TXP Chat, received a Phase I, $250,000 Small Business Innovative Research grant from the National Library of Medicine of the National Institutes of Health. The results from the study indicate: decreased time from organ offer to transplant, reduced time to organ acceptance, increased number of organs offered and improved quality of life for transplant professional by dramatically reducing the number of phone calls, faxes and Emails. The ensuing Phase II, $1.5M grant was awarded to continue TXP Chat on a larger scale and pilot an artificial intelligence interface for predictive analytics and logistics. In concert with the co-Founder, Eric Pahl, these data are “In Production” with the interdisciplinary peer-reviewed journal, Progress in Transplantation. We congratulate Ms Allecia and the Star for bringing this problem again to light and trust we can offer an effective solution that will sustain broader organ distribution.
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Robert W. Emery, MD
Foothills
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
