Artificial liver may extend lives(r standard therapy. Thirty-day transplan...),Health

Artificial livers have been attempted since the 1960s. Because previous designs didn't use human liver cells, they couldn't adequately filter toxins or create chemicals essential to metabolism and blood-clotting.

With the ELAD system, four 12-inch cartridges containing cells derived from human liver cells and fibers are mounted on a standard blood-pumping unit. The patient's blood plasma flows inside of hollow fibers to allow appropriate two-way transfer of metabolites across the fiber membrane.

Liver transplantation is limited by the supply of donor livers. According to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), there were approximately 6,500 liver transplants performed in 2007; however, there are more than 16,000 patients on the waiting list. Each year only about one-third of those who need a donor liver will receive one, and many patients die while waiting.

Acute liver failure afflicts more than 30,000 Americans each year, including those with chronic liver diseases like hepatitis, as well as those whose livers were damaged, such as by taking too much acetaminophen pain medicine. If not treated effectively and promptly -- usually by transplantation -- patients experience organ failure, bleeding, coma and death. When a donor organ isn't available or if the patient is too sick for surgery, ELAD could be their only option.

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