The Wearable Kidney is here
By admin
Published: August 7, 2009
An upcoming study in the clinical journal of the american society of nephrology is reporting the development of an artifical kidney which is wearable, you may remember that this came up a short while ago when we looked at the possible methods by which one could construct an artificial kidney. The device in question is reported to be still a dialysis machine but much smaller weighing in at only 10 pounds and literally runs on 9 volt batteries.
Even if this device is only able to give inefficient clearance per minute the health benefits over standard dialysis will be immense. Peritoneal dialysis is known for its inefficent clearance of toxin however the fact that is relatively continuous allows it to come out ahead of intermittent hemodialysis on some metrics.
Just recently a study has demonstrated that nocturnal daily hemodialysis may very well be equal to transplantation reinforcing that when it comes to dialysis the amount of time you spend actually undergoing the process is very important to survival and quality of life.
This research is very timely as another recent study has demonstrated that if you are over 60 on the transplant waiting list your chances are not very good.
With new cases of CKD continuing to rise year over year a wearable device capable of giving clearance in a more continuous daily manner as shown with nocturnal hemodialysis may be just what is needed to match the quality of life and survival benefits of transplantation.
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About Roger: Dr. Roger Smith is a nephrologist currently employed to the government of Jamaica. He is the Nephrologist in charge of Spanish Town Dialysis Unit. His interests are lupus nephritis and other glomerulopathies. He was previously a lecturer in Nephrology at the University of the West Indies in the Department of Internal Medicine and Coordinator of the Urogenital Module before moving into private and government practice. |
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