A pioneering medical workshop held at the Indaba Hotel on October 23 in Fourways brought together transplant specialists from across South Africa and the globe to discuss how new machine perfusion technology is reshaping the field of organ transplantation and giving new hope to patients waiting for life-saving procedures.

Hosted by Coligo Medical, the session, facilitated by Sharan Rambarran, a surgeon from Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre, focused on how the use of machine perfusion, a process that keeps donor organs viable outside the human body by continuously circulating oxygen and nutrients, is dramatically improving transplant outcomes and expanding the donor pool.

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“Machine perfusion allows medical teams to preserve, assess, and optimise organs before transplantation,” said Robyn Lategan, managing director of Coligo Medical. “That means more organs can be used, and more lives can be saved.”

Lategan’s journey with this groundbreaking technology began during her postgraduate studies in Boston. With a background in medical science, physiology, and experience as a perfusionist, she was immediately drawn to the possibilities the technology presented when she first encountered it during a job interview with Swedish company, XVIVO.

“Even though I didn’t get the job, I couldn’t stop thinking about the product. It was something that could genuinely save lives. When I came back home, I proposed to become their distributor in South Africa, and that’s how Coligo Medical was born.”

Since its establishment, Coligo Medical has already achieved a major milestone: introducing the first organ perfusion machine on the African continent.

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“We sold the first kidney perfusion machine to Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, about two years ago. That was the first organ perfusion in Africa, not just in South Africa. It didn’t get much attention at the time, but it was a huge step forward.”

The technology, already in use at leading hospitals worldwide, allows transplant teams to maintain organs in optimal condition for extended periods before surgery, improving the chances of success for both recipients and surgeons.

South Africa continues to face severe shortages in organ donation. Many potentially viable organs are lost because they deteriorate too quickly or don’t meet the stringent requirements for immediate transplantation.

Machine perfusion offers a way around that. “With this technology, you can take a suboptimal organ, one that might otherwise be rejected, and connect it to a machine that restores its function. That organ can then become suitable for transplant. It means more people can get a second chance at life.”

She said the impact of this innovation extends beyond technology. It’s about giving patients hope and advancing medical care in a country where organ transplants are often limited by infrastructure and access.

“South Africa has incredible medical professionals, but they need access to the right tools. Machine perfusion can be a game-changer; it’s about creating opportunities to save more lives.”

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