Dustin Becker

Biography

Dustin Becker is currently working as professor, Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zurich.

Research Interest

The human liver has the ability to regenerate itself. A liver resection (a surgical procedure in which the diseased part of the liver is removed) is the current therapy for the treatment of various liver cancers and has been successfully practiced for several decades. However, some patients can not benefit from this therapy because the removal of a too large diseased part of the liver ends fatally. In this project, an ex vivo liver perfusion machine is being developed and built to keep a liver alive outside the body while providing the necessary nutrients and ensuring the necessary oxygen supply. In addition, the function and condition of the liver is continuously recorded. The purpose of this machine is to enable novel therapies consisting of: i) liver resection of healthy liver tissue; ii) growth of this part outside the body in the liver perfusion machine; iii) Retransplantation of the regenerated liver tissue from the perfusion machine with simultaneous removal of the diseased liver.