Scientists at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) have developed a design for an automated wearable artificial kidney, or WAK. This development is expected to be approved soon by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
According with its developers, the WAK will “avoid the complications patients often suffer with traditional dialysis” because it does not involve blood circulation outside the body, it is “bloodless.” Additionally, it also regenerates and reuses fluid and protein components in the spent dialysate “making it waterless and minimizing or eliminating protein loss.”
This device’s development started back in 2008 and has as principal benefit its portability, as it can be attached to a person’s waist; in comparison to the more traditional, stationary machines found at hospitals or in homes, which tend to be extremely heavy. The current version of WAK weighs a mere 10 lbs (around 4.5 kg.)
The WAK resembles a tool belt; the device connects to a patient via a catheter. Like conventional dialysis machines, it is designed to filter the blood of people whose kidneys have stopped working. Unlike current portable or stationary dialysis machines, it can run continuously on batteries and is not plugged into an electrical outlet or attached to a water pipe.
The real advantage of this ‘Dialysis-On-The-Go’ is that it will allow patients to move around while being treated. Therefore, patients will be able to do their normal activities; without the need for queuing for long in a hospital, waiting for the treatment and then spend long time immobilized while undergoing the dialysis.
Dr. Victor Gura and his researchers’ team from the UCLA have already done multiple tests in other countries and currently they are set to run their first clinical trial in the US later this year, which will bring it one step closer to becoming a commercial product.
“My team invented the device to untether patients from large dialysis machines,” said Gura. He also explained that his group wants to give patients, with end-stage renal failure, the mobility and freedom for routine activities as walking or shopping while their dialysis runs.
Through: Endgadget, NewsBeat from University of Washington, UCLA Newsroom
