HyperBaric Systems of Palo Alto, CA, said it has reached an agreement with Borgess Research Institute of Kalamazoo, MI to conduct studies aimed at extending the time a cadaver organ can be safely preserved before it must be transplanted into a patient.

"Both blood platelets and donor organ preservation methods have lagged far behind the rapidly expanding breakthroughs in other areas of medicine," said Harry Masuda, HBS President. "We are still in the Stone Age compared to advances in other industries. With our new technologies we believe we can bring these areas into the twenty first century and save millions of lives and millions of dollars."

Dr. Luis Toledo, chief medical officer of HBS who will lead the studies, expressed confidence that by "transferring much of the technology advancements we have made with platelet preservation," it should be possible to achieve "a quantum leap forward" in donor organ preservation.