Wearable Artificial Kidney Could be Game Changer

Most innovations medicine occur by asking one simple question. Is there a better way? Physicians at the Kidney Research Institute of the University of Washington have asked that question about hemodialysis treatments – lengthy procedures that filter a patient’s blood when the kidneys no longer function properly. The institute is developing a wearable artificial kidney that could completely change the paradigm for some of these patients with impaired kidney function. Earlier this week, at MD&M West, Jonathan Himmelfarb, MD, who servers as director of the Kidney Research Institute, spoke about the development of the artificial kidney and gave a timetable on when such a technology could be up for review by the FDA. “There has been an increase in the number of people with kidney failure who were treated particularly with dialysis and particularly with hemodialysis,” Himmelfarb said. “Now there are about 600,000 people in the United States today in which the vast majority - close to 500,000 are treated dialysis centers.” Typically, these patients go to dialysis three times a week with a four-hour treatment. These treatments have significant impact on lifestyle, but even more than that the mortality and morbidity of these patients is very high. “The average person, even today, who starts dialysis will survive for about three to four years,” Himmelfarb said. “The mortality is about 20% per year. With what we provide for dialysis function today, we don’t real...
Source: MDDI - Category: Medical Devices Authors: Tags: Medical Device Business Source Type: news