A Critique of Jacque Wilson’s
(New transplant technology keeps organs alive' outside body)
The TransMedics Organ Care System is a portable device that allows doctors to keep organs "alive" during transport.
Organ transplant is an operation of transferring an organ from a donor into recipient or from a place into another in the body of the patient to substitute the injured or missing organ. Throughout the years, doctors used a cooler filled with ice to transfer organs that are used for transplantation. Transmedics generated new technology called the Organ Care System. This technology is designated to keep the organ functioning and alive outside the body (Transmedics ) .
Jacque Wilson is a health writer in CNN. In her article “New transplant technology keeps organs 'alive' outside body”, she concentrated on the advantages of the Organ Care System .In attempt to raise the readers’ attention of its advantages , she began with presenting the disadvantages associated with the traditional organ transplant methods which is the organ damage caused by the delay in the transplant . Wilson presented three main potential benefits of the Organ Care System. First, it reduces the amount of organ damage resulted from the delay of transplant by keeping the organ worm and functioning. In addition , it increases the time the organ can be sustained outside the body that in turn enable the organ to be moved into more distant geographic area . Moreover, it could be used to fight chronic diseases such as cancer by improving the function of the organ after its removal from the donor.
Wilson used general words that could reduce the level of article’s precision. For example, she used the words “surgeons in Europe” and “U.S. breathing lung transplant studies” without specifying the name of the surgeons and title of the studies or providing sources of the provided information. In addition, she provided numerical information about the maximum time the organ can sustained intact in the cooler outside the body (8 hours) and the number of organ transplants that have been completed in Europe (200 organ transplants). Sources of these data should be provided to enhance the article accuracy. On the other hand, Wilson provided details that support her arguments by presenting information given by professionals such as Ardehali, UCLA's heart and lung transplant program director, and Beswick who is the “vice president of global marketing for TransMedics”.
The language and the tone that Wilson used while describing the scenario of transporting the organ through the cooler were emotionally –loaded. She also mentioned that this cooler is the same as the container that is used to maintain the temperature of the soda. Using this description underestimated this method and could affect the reader judgment regarding how the Organ Care System is more effective than the cooler which as a result also reflects the author's preference and bias toward the Organ Care System. While Wilson mentioned that the Organ Care System is expensive, she did not provide the cost of using the cooler. A balanced argument would provide the cost of the old and new methods.
Throughout the article “New transplant technology keeps organs alive' outside body”, Willson provided the benefits of using the new method of organ transplant which is Organ Care System. While Wilson provided a rational argument, specific information that enhances the accuracy of the article should be provided. In addition, comparison of cost of both old method, the cooler , and the new technology , Organ Care System, should be acknowledged .
References
Wilson , Jacque . “New transplant technology keeps organs alive' outside body”.CNN , 25April 2013.Web.29October 2014 <http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/25/health/live-organ-transplants/>
I am definitely interested in learning more about Organ Care System, I can see the obvious advantages of keeping an organ alive versus keeping it on ice in a cooler but I can image this technology is incredibly expensive. This reminds me of an episode of Grey's Anatomy where something similar was used to keep a heart alive until the transplantation could occur, they called it "heart in a box". I do agree with you though that the author could have provided more resources for her information regarding the technology. Also the description of the same cooler used for keeping a soda cool seems a little bit like she was simply trying to make people panic.
ReplyDeleteIt is great to learn a new technology about organ transplant called Organ Care System. I feel like Organ Care System is big jumping for organ transplant if it has more scientific proven. Organ transplant seem a method to extend a person life from another person. Also, it is not easy to find an organ to match the receiver. Therefore, it is a miracle for both donor and receiver if the organ is matching. But at some points, there are many issue to happen that interrupt the process of organ transplantation. You did a good job that share this media which make me attention of organ transplantation. By the way, thanks for teaching me a new technology.
ReplyDeleteBravo for technology. Having the TransMedics Organ Care System is a great advantage for many individuals that are in need of organ transplantation. Therefore, organs can maintain their functions and expectancy. But the cons side, would definitely be the costs of the technology. Do you know how much does it costs to purchase a Organ Care System? I believe the costs is going to be a major issue for patients that are in desperate state in needs of organ transplantation. First of all, the surgery for organ transplantation is already an expensive procedure, but many patients do not live close to the designated area to obtain an organ so to get an organ from another faraway places is time consuming. But having the Organ Care System is going to benefit the patients but overall, money is the issue.
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