The data recently provided by the World Kidney DayOn World Kidney Day, kidney disease causes more deaths than breast or prostate cancer. And they affect over 10% of the planet's population. Impressive numbers that require all possible attention.
Although kidney transplants are possible, there is always more demand than can be met. The risk that the patient's body may reject the organ, then, is always possible. Dialysis currently remains the most viable option, but the process is complicated and burdensome for patients.
A possible solution
Now, a public-private partnership between the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) of the United States and theAmerican Society of Nephrology (ASN) founded to “accelerate innovation in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of kidney disease” may have come up with a solution, according to a press release from the University of California San Francisco.
Is called Kidney Project. It is an implantable bioartificial kidney and has just shown its functional prototype. The bioartificial kidney just got an award from the KidneyX Artificial Kidney Prize. An award that invited scientists and engineers to present “continuous renal replacement therapies that provide transformative treatment options beyond current dialysis methods.”
Artificial kidney vision is to provide patients with complete mobility and better physiological outcomes than dialysis. It promises a much higher quality of life for millions of people around the world with kidney failure.
Shuvo Roy, Department of Engineering and Therapeutic Sciences
What's so special about an artificial kidney?
One thing above all: the device has been designed to sustainably support a human kidney cell culture without provoking an immune response.
This means that patients with renal insufficiency can forgo dialysis procedures. Does that seem little to you? These are often painful and uncomfortable procedures. For those who undergo a transplantOn the other hand, there is the prospect of lifelong use of immunosuppressive drugs which can also have serious side effects.
