Health Care Reform as a Halfway Technology

Oliver, Thomas R.

doi:10.1215/03616878-1271333

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 14 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Introduced by Thomas [5], the concept of halfway technology as applied to the medical field indicates those treatments aiming at alleviating problematic symptoms instead of the root causes of a specific clinical condition. Such treatments are generally implemented when the disease is in advanced stages and possibly life threatening [6], with the intent to manage a disease but without offering any definitive cure [7]. A paradigmatic example is liver transplantation performed for hepatitis C-related cirrhosis.…”

Section: Organ Transplantation As a Halfway Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Immunoisolation: where regenerative medicine meets solid organ transplantation

Pareta

Sanders

Babbar

et al. 2012

Expert Review of Clinical Immunology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Immunoisolation refers to an immunological strategy in which nonself antigens present on an allograft or xenograft are not allowed to come in contact with the host immune system, and it is implemented to prevent allorecognition and avoid immunosuppression. In this setting, the two most promising technologies, encapsulation of pancreatic islets (EPI) and immunocloaking (IC), are used. In the case of EPI, islets are inserted in capsules that, allow exchange of oxygen, nutrients and other molecules. In the case of IC, a natural nanofilm is injected prior to renal transplantation within the vasculature of the graft with the intent to pave the inner surface of the vascular lumen and camouflage the antigens located on the membrane of endothelia cells. Significant progress achieved in experimental models is leading EPI and IC to clinical translation.

show abstract

Section: Organ Transplantation As a Halfway Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%