The life of eight-month-old Iyaad Syed has been saved by donor liver cells implanted through a technique that was the first of its kind in the world, said his medical team.

Iyaad's liver was attacked by a virus and started failing when he was only two months old. His symptoms steadily grew worse until his kidneys failed as well. Instead of waiting for a transplant, his doctors at King's College Hospital in London decided to try saving his life with a groundbreaking liver treatment.

The implants, injected through his abdomen and covered in a specially formulated chemical, served as Iyaad's temporary liver. The special chemical (made from algae) allowed this temporary liver to be accepted by his immune system.

"It was a very difficult time when he first arrived - he was unconscious for a number of days whilst the doctors kept him under observation. We spent all our time at the hospital, and we thought he would need a transplant - fortunately, his liver has recovered and we feel very lucky to be in the position we are in today. It's a miracle," said Iyaad's elated father, Jahangeer Syed, according to The Press Association.

The temporary liver allowed Iyaad's own damaged liver to recover after two weeks. His doctors, including Dr Ragai Mitry, the Head of Liver Processing at King's College Hospital and one of the developers of the technique, were happy with the results according to the BBC.

"We are very pleased the transplanted liver cells have helped in supporting and delivering the missing metabolic functions of Iyaad's failing liver," Dr Mitry said.

"This is the first time this treatment has been used to treat a child with acute liver failure. It's only a few months back when I first saw this child who was so sick requiring support on dialysis and a breathing machine," said Anil Dhawan, King's medical team member and consultant pediatric hepatologist.

"Longer-term, we want to see whether this technique works in other patients, so we can properly assess how big an impact it can potentially have," Dhawan added.

Since patients can die just from waiting for transplants to become available, using this innovative technique would mean that they can be treated that much sooner. If the success of this operation can be replicated in clinical trials worldwide, it would mean more lives can be saved.