Artificial kidney

[1] Some of the commercial artificial kidney manufacturing companies are Hospal, Asahi Kasei, Medtronic, Baxter, Nipro, Fresenius among many others.

Kidneys are paired vital organs located behind the abdominal cavity at the bottom of the ribcage corresponding to the levels T12-L3 of the spine vertebrae.

Some of these functions include filtration and excretion of metabolic waste products, regulation of necessary electrolytes and fluids and stimulation of red blood cell-production.

[3] Kidney failure results in the slow accumulation of nitrogenous wastes, salts, water, and disruption of the body's normal pH balance.

[9] According to a 2011 report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the United States of America has the second-highest rate of dialysis among advanced countries after Japan.

The growth of dialysis facilities in the United States is the result of more Americans developing end-stage renal disease.

The key to the success of this device is the use of silicon nano-pore membrane (SEM) fabricated by MEMS technology similar to the semiconductor manufacturing process.

These SEM feature pores that are large enough to allow for fluid and electrolyte transfer, but too small for the immune system to interact with living renal cells contained in the device.

Accordingly, the SEM will not only function as hemo-filters, but as a platform for which living kidney cells can reside and thrive within the unit.

The device will be designed to be small enough to fit inside a patient's body and will be powered by the natural blood flow.

Roy and Fissell and research team continue to make progress and they hope for the device to have completed FDA trials by 2030.

The treatment results in a lower quality of life as well as a higher mortality rate for patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD).

Therefore, there is a need for an around-the-clock device that will allow ESRD patients to receive dialysis continuously while maintaining a normal life.

[14][15][16] The FDA approved the first human clinical trial in the United States for a wearable artificial kidney designed by Blood Purification Technologies Inc.

[14] It is designed to run continuously on batteries, allowing patients to remain ambulatory when wearing the device, leading to a greater quality of life.

A change in the type of pump used for the WAK may be crucial because it could help make the device cheaper and more reliable for the public by not having a sensor.

A representative hollow fiber hemodialyzer
A representative hollow fiber hemodialyzer