Using nanotechnology, researchers have taken the first step toward developing a fully functioning artificial kidney for patients with end-stage renal disease, possibly eliminating the need for dialysis or kidney transplantation. The device is small - about the size of a paperback book - and therefore portable or implantable.

In the journal Hemodialysis International, Dr. Allen R. Nissenson, from the University of California at Los Angeles, and colleagues note that the equipment consists of two membranes operating in series within one cartridge. The membranes mimic filter structures found in a real kidney.

As Nissenson told, “a connection to the bloodstream is necessary, which allows blood to flow into the device. In the device, it is filtered and processed by the membranes, with waste and water being discharged into a bag - the external bladder - to be discarded, and important substances like salt, calcium, and nutrients returned to the body.” In its final form, the device would operate continuously, imitating natural kidneys. No dialysis solution is used.

Using computer modeling, the researchers found that the device, operating 12 hours per day, 7 days per week, actually provides a greater filtering rate than conventional dialysis given three times a week.

Nissenson emphasized that work on the artificial kidney is “now just past the conceptual phase. We have done extensive computer modeling to predict how the device should work, and we have begun to construct the necessary membranes.”

“Future work,” he added, “involves producing a complete membrane, incorporating it into the device, and testing the function on animals, before human trials can begin. This next phase of work is expected to take 2 to 4 years, with clinical work possibly starting by 2010” he said.

SOURCE: Hemodialysis International, September 2005.