TV, Medical & Science: Heart, Skin, Lungs, Sklungs? House M.D. Prophecy Of A Fluidless Organ Preservation Box!!!

Lung in a box, in House M.D. Season 8 Episode 2 Transplant
Image from Fox

You all know how much I love House M.D., hence my PhD research subject. That said, I used to always visit and revisit Polite Dissent after every episode to get some professional medical knowledge, so that I do not get carried away by the awesomeness of the show. One episode which I remember particularly well, Season 8 Episode 2 Transplant, carried a fatal "design flaw" in their production, and that was the printine plexiglass organ preservation box shown in the above photo.

Polite Dissent has the following comments which I highlighted in the screen capture below:

Screencap of Polite Dissent
Image from Polite Dissent

I agreed with Polite Dissent. How can an organ survive without blood and fluid around the organ to keep it from drying up? Until today, I realised I was wrong when I saw the image below,

Heart beating in the organ preservation box.
Image from IFL Science

Here's direct quotation of parts of the IFL Science article:

"In the short term they’ll open the field," commented Korkut Uygun, a transplant surgeon from Massachusetts General Hospital, to the Technology Review. Uygun thinks that one day we'll have the technology to restore other organs, such as livers, up to an hour after they have undergone circulatory death, not minutes. And so far, there are 15 cases of the "heart in a box" successfully reanimating a heart from a donor after they've died.

The system could increase the number of hearts that are transported, overcoming issues such as the time limit heart porters have when transporting a chilled heart. Typically, an organ is cooled to about 4°C (39°F) to slow down the tissue's metabolic rate and the rate of degenerative processes. Lungs, for example, only last three to six hours on ice – whereas the Transmedics device preserves lungs for 24 hours without needing to cool the organ down.

There is no blood flow around a cooled organ so it is susceptible to damage, and there is no way to test its function. This is especially critical for a patient about to undergo the invasive surgery to receive it, and the months of adapting to the new organ afterwards. 

So yeah, that House M.D. prophecy has come true, again!!! After that black president of the United States one, which I will share in the near future.


Resources:
House — Episode 2 (Season 8): “Transplant” @Polite Dissent
http://www.politedissent.com/archives/8064

New Device Could Revive Dead Hearts +I fucking love science
http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/heart-box-revives-dead-hearts

Auto & Environment: EV Numbers and Growth In Hong Kong As Of June/July 2015

EV Growth in Hong Kong

Image from Locky's English Playground

According to data from the Environmental Protection Department of Hong Kong, as of 30th June 2015, the total number of registered EV in Hong Kong is 2279, an increase of 146 since May. This is considered as a high increase month, ranking 6th in overall highest monthly increase. The total number of registered private EV is 2012, an increase of 149 since May.

Provisional number for the total number of registered EV is 2456, an increase of 186 since June. If the final data is exact then this will be the 2nd highest monthly increase!!! Really encouraging numbers! As usual, it is predicted that Tesla Model S constitute by conservative estimation 70% of the total, thus hitting 1719.2 (this estimate already excludes the 340 EVs before Model S arrives in Hong Kong, with the assumption that the number of Tesla Roadster sold is negligible). That means as of today, the total number of Tesla Model S could have reached 2000.

(Findings from a very personal and unofficial EV-road-sighting "research" shows that it is common to spot 5-10 Tesla Model S, 1-2 BMW i3 and 0 Nissan LEAF during a round-trip drive between Tai Koo and Central on weekdays and 10 Tesla Model S, 1-2 BMW i3 and 0 Nissan LEAF on weekends.)

That said, the total number of registered vehicles in Hong Kong in June has reached 776,702, which means that EVs only constitutes 0.293% (=2279/776,702 x 100%) of the entire vehicle fleet in Hong Kong. A great start for EVs, but still barely, barely barely a start.

BMWHK sold 19 i3 to HKJC
Image from BWMHK

BMWHK sold 19 i3 to HKJC
Image from BWMHK

Personally, I do hope that Charged HK will get to meet the government officials again before the FRT waiver ends because Tesla Model X and III delivery will surely be encouraged or hindered by the decisions of FRT waiver. From the numbers, we have just enjoyed a good start and whether the best is yet to come, FRT will be a determinant.

Here's a side note, according to official press release by Tesla Motors, the innovative EV manufacturer has delivered 11,507 Model S worldwide for Q2 2015, thus a new company record for the most cars delivered in a quarter and represents an approximate 52% increase over Q2 last year.

Resources:
Promotion of Electric Vehicles in Hong Kong @Environmental Protection Department
http://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/environmentinhk/air/prob_solutions/promotion_ev.html

Tesla Delivers 11,507 Vehicles in Q2 of 2015 +Tesla Motors
http://ir.teslamotors.com/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=920434

Tracking progress of EVs into Hong Kong +Tesla Motors Club
http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/38932-Tracking-progress-of-EVs-into-Hong-Kong/page6?p=1137608&viewfull=1#post1137608

19 All-Electric BMW i3 Delivered to The Hong Kong Jockey Club Set to Drive Greener for Hong Kong
BMW i Fast-charging Station Unveiled at The Pulse, Repulse Bay @BMWHK
http://www.bmwhk.com/com/en/news/news-201507-01.html#