Commentary: More organ donors, better transport technology go hand in hand
By TOM DAULTON
The most important gift you may ever receive could arrive in humble, unassuming packaging, in a snowstorm, at 3 a.m., or in a plane flying cross country.
But the time it takes to get to you, and the package it comes in, could be critical for your survival.
In 2025, there were 49,064 organ transplants in the U.S., over half of which were kidneys.
In Illinois, nearly 5,000 people are awaiting an organ transplant.
For those with kidney failure, successfully receiving a transplant means freedom from years of dialysis, better health, and more time with loved ones.
A vital role in better patient care and outcomes
While not widely considered, each step between organ recovery and transplant is critical. These actions can determine whether a patient gets a second chance at life. Patients have a better likelihood of graft survival when kidneys arrive in stronger condition, so improved preservation can lead to more opportunities for successful outcomes, more organs saved, and more confidence by clinical teams throughout the donation and transplant process.
Organ transport and logistics are some of the most challenging stages of the process. Successful transplants are carefully coordinated, requiring close collaboration between organ procurement organizations (OPOs), surgeons, and other medical professionals.
In Illinois, that collaboration includes organizations like the Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network, med-tech companies like Organ Recovery Systems, and transplant teams at institutions such as Northwestern Medicine and UChicago Medicine.
Recently, an organ recovery professional identified a perfect-match kidney for a recipient. Due to snow, local couriers had been grounded, but this didn’t stop him from driving through the night and pushing through the harsh conditions to retrieve the kidney. He transported the donated kidney to Raleigh-Durham International Airport, catching a flight to the recipient in South Carolina. The whole journey took 18 hours, during which modern medical technology kept the donor kidney safe and perfused.
Evolving technology supports your lifesaving gift
Historically, static cold storage (SCS) has been the preservation method for organs during transport. SCS involves placing organs on ice to slow tissue deterioration until they can be transplanted. While SCS can be effective, the risk of early graft dysfunction increases with every hour that an organ spends on ice. It also places immense pressure on transplant teams to rapidly assess, transport, and allocate donor gifts, risking the loss of donor organs.
In contrast, hypothermic machine perfusion (HMP) is a modern method of preserving organs that uses a device to pump a cold solution through the organ to mitigate damage for a longer period. The long-term benefits of HMP have robust clinical evidence proving success, with published clinical data showing improved graft survival rates even 10 years after transplant surgery.
Modern kidney transporters support system transparency by recording pressure, flow, resistance, organ temperature and more, helping surgeons assess organ health and plan surgeries. These transporters also offer real-time tracking and monitoring data, allowing transplant teams to track multiple perfusion cases and device locations. Chicagoans understand the realities of distance and delay: lake-effect snow, summer thunderstorms, overnight congestion, and the tight coordination required to move safely through one of the nation’s busiest transportation hubs. For a donated kidney, those local obstacles are not inconveniences. They are clinical variables.
Technology can’t replace donors, but it can protect their selfless gifts
The organ donation and transplantation system should be built to ensure that gifts of life arrive on time and in the best condition possible.
That mission is especially personal in Illinois.
As stakeholders push for increased transparency and accountability in organ donation and transplantation, it is important to celebrate the many successes of the industry. Modern preservation and monitoring tools buy precious hours when weather, distance, and tight surgical schedules intersect and have stretched the impact a single donor can have on several recipients’ lives. By fostering technological advancement, med-tech companies have replaced risk with reliability and continue to help ensure lifesaving organs arrive safely from donor to recipient.
About the author and the company
Tom Daulton joined Organ Recovery Systems in 2025 after over 35 years in the medical healthcare device industry, with significant experience in highly clinical, mission-oriented products. His experience includes leading global businesses at Baxter, Allegiance, and Cardinal Health, and has also built and grown two private companies, Devicor/Mammotome and National Dentex Labs. Daulton serves on the boards of Voyager Dental Inc. and Sterile State Inc., staying closely connected to innovation, leadership, and challenges of scaling a business in the healthcare industry.
ORS is headquartered in Itasca, Ill., with a satellite location in Belgium. It is a global market-leading provider of organ preservation products and services. For over 25 years, ORS has been focused on honoring organ donations as a gift of life and improving patient outcomes. ORS supports over 400 transplant programs across 49 countries. In 2025, the company reached 275,000 kidneys perfused with its LifePort Kidney Transporter since its launch in 2003.
