A new portable artificial kidney has been developed that may just save kidney patients many hours of dialysis attached to a machine at a medical facility. The machine was invented by Doctor Victor Gura of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
The device has been designed to function just as the dialysis machines, as well as the human kidneys, do. It will allow the wearer to cleanse their kidneys without spending the hours sitting at a machine far away from home. The original testing of the design was carried out with seven patients located at the University of Washington Medical Center based in Seattle.
Over the twenty four hour period that the researchers had the patients wear the portable machine, it functioned better than anyone had imagined it could. The patients found it comfortable an non intrusive. The scientists want to continue to tinker and evaluate the machine before releasing it for wider use.
They will continue to adapt the operation of the machine to everyday home use for patients. While wide and accepted use may be a few years away, scientists and the medical establishment are confident that it will come into accepted use. This coincides with the invention of an artificial kidney this past year in which the device can be implanted into a patient to replace a failed kidney. It was developed by researchers at the University of California and at Vanderbilt University.
PHOTO CREDITS: Facebook / Kidneybuzz.com