Professional and Patient Expert recruitment:
- Professional expert questionnaire: https://forms.office.com/e/NrEbUj7mDp
- People and Communities Partners (patient expert) form: https://online1.snapsurveys.com/Machine_perfusion_devices_for_lung_transplants
Deadline for responses: midnight on Tuesday 27 January 2026
- Status:
- In progress
- Technology type:
- Device
- Decision:
- Selected
- Reason for decision:
- Anticipate the topic will be of importance to patients, carers, professionals, commissioners and the health of the public to ensure clinical benefit is realised, inequalities in use addressed, and help them make the best use of NHS resources
- ID number:
- 10084
- Description:
- A lung transplant may be an option for people with end-stage respiratory failure. This can be caused by life-limiting conditions such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, cystic fibrosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pulmonary hypertension. The NHS faces a critical shortage of donor organs. In September 2025, there were 176 people on the lung transplant waiting list and 12 people on the heart and lung transplant waiting list. Only a small proportion of lungs from deceased donors meet transplant standards, often because of the donor’s cause of death or trauma. In some cases, donor lungs that do not meet the standard criteria for transplantation (marginal lungs) can still be used under certain conditions. Other reasons for shortages include logistical issues and mismatches between donors and recipients. Standard lung transplant protocol involves cold preservation to maintain the donor lungs. Ex-situ machine perfusion devices deliver an oxygenated solution to the donor lung and keeps it at normal body temperature. The aim is to reverse damage to the lung, increase the time the lung can be stored, and allow assessment of how well the lung works before it is transplanted. This technology may allow more donor lungs to be used for transplant.
Provisional Schedule
- Scope published:
- 10 March 2026
Project Team
- Project lead
- Deonee Stanislaus
Email enquiries
If you have any queries please email HealthTech1@nice.org.uk
Timeline
Key events during the development of the guidance:
| Date | Update |
|---|---|
| 16 December 2025 | In progress. Scoping starts |
| 15 September 2025 | Awaiting development. Status change linked to Topic Selection Decision being set to Selected |
For further information on our processes and methods, please see our HealthTech programme manual.