Paired and altruistic kidney donation in the UK: algorithms and experimentation

Manlove, D.F. and O’Malley, G. (2012) Paired and altruistic kidney donation in the UK: algorithms and experimentation. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 7276, pp. 271-282. (doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-30850-5_24)

Abstract

We study the computational problem of identifying optimal sets of kidney exchanges in the UK. We show how to expand an integer programming-based formulation [1, 19] in order to model the criteria that constitute the UK definition of optimality. The software arising from this work has been used by the National Health Service Blood and Transplant to find optimal sets of kidney exchanges for their National Living Donor Kidney Sharing Schemes since July 2008.We report on the characteristics of the solutions that have been obtained in matching runs of the scheme since this time. We then present empirical results arising from the real datasets that stem from these matching runs, with the aim of establishing the extent to which the particular optimality criteria that are present in the UK influence the structure of the solutions that are ultimately computed. A key observation is that allowing 4-way exchanges would be likely to lead to a significant number of additional transplants.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: Proceedings of SEA 2012: the 11th International Symposium on Experimental Algorithms, volume 7276 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 271-282, Springer, 2012
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Manlove, Professor David
• Authors: Manlove, D.F., and O’Malley, G.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Computing Science
• Journal Name: Lecture Notes in Computer Science
• Publisher: Springer
• ISSN: 0302-9743
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2012 Springer
• First Published: First published in Lecture Notes in Computer Science 7276:271-282
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher