The prioritisation of organ transplant patient waiting lists: application of fuzzy logic and multiple criteria decision making

This paper is based on preliminary research carried out in the development of a model/system for prioritisation of organ transplant patient waiting list [Perris, and Labib, 2004]. The intention is to carry out further research in this field. The objectives of the extended research are: i) to investigate the effectiveness of using fuzzy logic in a complex decision-making capacity, in particular, for the prioritisation of kidney transplant recipients and to compare and contrast the performance of a scheme based on fuzzy logic with the actual Kidney Allocation Scheme, ii) to contrast it with another representation and reasoning mechanism applied in the USA based on Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) techniques, and iii) to develop a self-adaptive feedback model for adjustment of the decision makers' consistency of judgements when setting priorities. Despite the medical research carried out, this paper does not pretend to be an authority on medical decisions. The models can also be used to aid the many problematic issues as discussed above.