Artificial kidney prototype proves functional in preclinical model

An artificial kidney has proven to be functional in a preclinical model as scientists continue to search for a better solution to kidney failure.

The device was developed by The Kidney Project, a research collaboration led by Dr. Shuvo Roy of University of California San Francisco and Dr. William Fissell of Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) is currently treated using dialysis and kidney transplant, but Roy said these are insufficient.

"Dialysis is associated with poor outcomes and a very poor quality of life. While for kidney transplant, there's just not enough organs available. And the alternative we are working on is an implantable bioartificial kidney," said Roy, bioengineer and technical director of The Kidney Project.

The artificial kidney, which is around the size of a smartphone, can perform all the functions of kidney in the body and will be attached to the circulatory system.

"It will be surgically implanted into the abdomen, very much like a kidney transplant today. Inside this device will be silicon filters, that you see here in prototype form along with renal tubule cells that will provide the biological functions of the kidney," Roy said.

The device is powered by blood pressure and would remove the need for immunosuppressants, which are taken for life by those who had a kidney transplant.

The artificial kidney still has to undergo preclinical trials and eventually clinical trials, but its development is a promising solution for patients with kidney failure.

According to the National Kidney and Transplant Institute, kidney disease is seventh cause of death for Filipinos.

—MGP, GMA News