First in nation collaboration between Alliance for Paired Kidney Donation and MediGO Inc.

The Alliance for Paired Kidney Donation (APKD), a global leader in paired kidney donation, announced today that a kidney from a living donor traveled 612 miles across four states via ground couriers and commercial air transport with MediGO technology onboard. APKD partnered with MediGO to gain access to its next-generation hardware and software platform to ensure safety and reliability in the transport of donated kidneys from living donors. This partnership marks the first time a kidney donation registry has been able to benefit from this technology.

The logistics of living donation is complex. Kidneys often travel over long distances, requiring several exchanges between ground and air services. Whereas GPS could track ground movement, monitoring in the air was not possible as there was no way to track the kidney’s location or assess if it had been delayed in transport.

MediGO’s platform improves efficiency, provides critical real-time logistics data, and communications to the organ donation process by including a tracking device with each kidney during transport. This device transmits a signal that allows the kidney’s location to be tracked via a website interface, just like how a user interacts with Uber and DoorDash.

“Until today, I could tell you more about my Amazon order than where our kidneys were in transit,” stated Susan Rees, executive director of APKD. “In our very first time using MediGO’s technology, this tracking innovation prevented a delay by alerting our transplant coordinator of an issue at an airport. We were able to intervene to ensure the kidney successfully reached its destination on time for transplant.”

The problem of lost or non-transplantable kidneys due to transit issues exists often with potentially devastating consequences. According to a 2020 report from Kaiser Health News and Reveal, a project from the Center for Investigative Reporting, nearly 170 organs over a five-year span could not be transplanted because of transportation issues rendering them lost or unusable.

“A lost or damaged kidney has significant repercussions,” stated Rees. “The intended recipient, who has likely waited months or years for a transplant and is at the hospital being prepped for surgery, may not be able to wait much longer due to deteriorating health. And the donor, who literally gave a piece of self to help another human being, feels a great sense of loss and sadness. If the organ lost or damaged was intended to be part of a kidney chain, future transplants are disrupted, and even more people are negatively impacted.”

As a result of this partnership, fewer errors will occur, and more organs will be made available for transplant. APKD’s transplant center partners will benefit as they can plan better, operate more efficiently and focus on patient care.

“I couldn’t be more excited for the entire transplant industry, and specifically for APKD,” said Dr. Joseph Scalea, chief medical officer of MediGO. “The use of MediGO demonstrates a commitment to innovation. Together, MediGO and APKD are leveraging the best technology in healthcare to save more lives through transplantation."