Dialysis technology

By Joe S., DaVita Bio-medical Technician Dialysis patients are all too familiar with the routine of their treatments: Go to the clinic, get weighed, have their temperature and blood pressure taken, get stuck with needles (unless the patient has a catheter access), have tubes connected from their access to the dialyzer and then sit in the chair until it is time to go home. While waiting, have you ever wondered how a dialysis machine works? As “the machine man,” I would like to take this opportunity to explain how your dialysis machine works by answering some of the most frequently asked questions. What does my dialysis machine do? The dialysis machine mixes and monitors the dialysate. Dialysate is the fluid that helps remove the unwanted waste products from your blood. It also helps get your electrolytes and minerals to their proper levels in your body. The machine also monitors the flow of your blood while it is outside of your body. You may hear an alarm go off from time to time. This is how the machine lets us know that something needs to be checked. What are those plastic jugs sitting in front of my machine? The plastic jugs hold the liquids used to mix the dialysate. The machine mixes the dialysate, which is made up of an acidified solution, bicarbonate and purified water. The acidified solution contains electrolytes and minerals. You may hear it referred to as “acid.” The other solution is bicarbonate or bicarb, which is like baking soda. Both are mixed inside the mac...

By 03 Jul 2017 What if dialysis was mobile and automated? What if you could install a shunt without the chance of rejection or infection? What if we only needed patient tissue cells to procure a new, viable kidney? The future of kidney care holds all these possibilities and more due to research in stem cell, bio-tissue and genome technology. Researchers are predicting new modalities of dialysis, gene modification and stem cell-generated tissue as the next steps for a healthier life for our kidney disease patients. Advances in Stem Cell Research for Autologous Tissue In the future, kidney care will become highly personalized and customized based on the genetic makeup and body tissue of each patient. Tissue will be used to grow a new kidney to replace a diseased one, such as in the case of polycystic kidney disease. Right now, rudimentary stem cells can be replicated, but in time, researchers will develop more complex, architecturally relevant models that are fully functional with a patient’s body, thereby eliminating the need for the immunosuppressive medication. Advances in stem cell-generated A Baseline of Genomic Data We are entering a new frontier in terms of genetic sequencing and Use of Molecular Data for Precision Medicine Imagine that when you walk into a clinic, you have a health record that contains a full, detailed history of your health on a cellular level. Molecular blueprints will provide a remarkable amount of detail about our health and well-being with a bas...

The need for innovation in dialysis is long overdue. As past and present users of dialysis we are fully aware of the limitations of current dialysis modalities. The time for complacency is over — developers must engage with dialysors to ensure that our needs are met so that we can live the best life possible. Let us share our dream for devices that will enable us to enjoy life. There is no doubt that the mainstay therapy for kidney failure — dialysis — has a negative impact on quality of life (QoL). Dialysis affects the ability of an individual to participate in activities such as family life, sports, travel or work. Although mortality has improved somewhat over the past 25 years, only ~24% of individuals aged 18–54 years remain employed — an important indicator of social participation — at initiation of dialysis, compared with 85% employment among healthy, age-matched individuals • Erickson, K., Zhao, B., Ho, V. & Winkelmayer, W. Employment among patients starting dialysis in the United States. Clin. J. Am. Soc. Nephrol. 13, 265–273 (2018). • Luyckx, V. A., Tonelli, M. & Stanifer, J. W. Bull. World Health Organ. 96, 414–422 (2018). • Greenstein, B.D. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Putting patients at the center of KidneyX • Caswell, W. Moore’s Law and the future of healthcare. Modern Health Talk

The Kidney Project’s implantable bioartificial kidney, one that promises to free kidney disease patients from dialysis machines and transplant waiting lists, took another big step toward becoming reality, earning a $650,000 prize from KidneyX for its first-ever demonstration of a functional prototype of its implantable artificial kidney. For this advance, Shuvo Roy, PhD In the last few years, The Kidney Project successfully tested For the Artificial Kidney Prize, the team married the two units into a scaled-down version of the artificial kidney and evaluated its performance in a preclinical model. The units worked in tandem, powered by blood pressure alone, and without the need for blood thinning or immunosuppressant drugs. “The vision for the artificial kidney is to provide patients with complete mobility and better physiological outcomes than dialysis,” said Roy, who is a faculty member in the Chronic kidney failure, also known as end-stage renal disease, leads to the progressive and dangerous loss of kidney function. Most patients with kidney failure must visit dialysis clinics multiple times every week to have their blood filtered, a process that is time-consuming, uncomfortable, and risky. A minority of patients live with transplanted kidneys, thanks to a pool of donated kidneys that are constantly in high demand. But even these patients must contend with a lifetime on immunosuppressant drugs that can have severe side effects. Video of The Kidney Project successfully ...

Peritoneal dialysis During peritoneal dialysis, a cleansing fluid called dialysate passes through a catheter tube into part of the abdomen known as the peritoneal cavity. The dialysate absorbs waste products from blood vessels in the lining of the abdomen, called the peritoneum. Then the fluid is drawn back out of the body and discarded. Peritoneal dialysis (per-ih-toe-NEE-ul die-AL-uh-sis) is a way to remove waste products from the blood. It's a treatment for kidney failure, a condition where the kidneys can't filter blood well enough any longer. During peritoneal dialysis, a cleansing fluid flows through a tube into part of the stomach area, also called the abdomen. The inner lining of the abdomen, known as the peritoneum, acts as a filter and removes wastes from blood. After a set amount of time, the fluid with the filtered waste flows out of the abdomen and is thrown away. Because peritoneal dialysis works inside the body, it's different from a more-common procedure to clean the blood called hemodialysis. That procedure filters blood outside the body in a machine. Peritoneal dialysis treatments can be done at home, at work or while you travel. But it's not a treatment option for everyone with kidney failure. You need to be able to use your hands in a skillful way and care for yourself at home. Or you need a trusted caregiver to help you with this process. Why it's done You need dialysis if your kidneys no longer work well enough. Kidney damage often becomes worse over ...