In what may come as a revolutionary innovation in the field of medical science, fist-sized artificial kidney may hit the market possibly by the end of the decade relieving patients with chronic kidney disease who are forced to stick to hospital beds for hours for dialysis.
Times of India, in its report, cited University of California San Francisco researcher Dr Shuvo Roy, co-inventor of the device, saying that the device being engineered in the US will go through several safety and efficacy trials on hundreds of patients in that country before it is approved by the FDA.
The device can be implanted in the abdomen and will be powered by the heart. It is designed to filter the blood and perform other kidney functions, including production of hormones, and help assist in blood pressure control.
According to Dr Roy, unlike conventional haemodialysis, which merely filters toxins from the blood, the artificial kidney has a membrane that filters the blood and a bio-reactor comprising living kidney cells that are exposed to the blood during dialysis.
“It performs the job of a kidney more holistically than just conventional dialysis,” Roy was quoted by Times of India as saying.
The cost of treating end-stage kidney disease, when kidneys are no longer able to remove enough wastes and excess fluids from the body, through dialysis or kidney transplant is very high.
Between January 2012 and May 2016, more than 2.21 lakh people have undergone dialysis at a cost of Rs 169.72 lakh in Tamil Nadu. The charges do not include the inestimable costs to quality of life among patients with advanced kidney disease.
Although Roy didn’t give an estimate of the cost of the device, he said that it will be much less than regular dialysis and transplant.
