A wearable artificial kidney: technical requirements and potential solutions.
Recently, new approaches for miniaturization and transportability of medical devices have been developed, paving the way for wearability and the possibility of implantation, for renal replacement therapies. A wearable artificial kidney (WAK) is a medical device that supports renal function during ambulation or social activities out of hospital. With the aim of improving dialysis patients' quality of life, WAK systems have been developed for several decades. However, at present there are a lot of technical issues confronting the attempt to apply WAK systems in clinical practice. This article focuses on technical requirements and potential solutions for WAKs and reviews up-to-date approaches related to dialysis membrane, dialysate regeneration, vascular access, patient-monitoring systems and power sources for WAKs.
Department of Nephrology, Ospedale San Bortolo, Vicenza 36100, Italy.
Jeong Chul
JC
Kim
Francesco
F
Garzotto
Federico
F
Nalesso
Dinna
D
Cruz
Ji Hyun
JH
Kim
Eungtaek
E
Kang
Hee Chan
HC
Kim
Claudio
C
Ronco
D000327:Adsorption; D004867:Equipment Design; D004864:Equipment and Supplies; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000628:therapy; D007688:Kidneys, Artificial; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning / Q000379:methods; D008904:Miniaturization; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory / Q000379:methods; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry; D011788:Quality of Life; D017582:Renal Replacement Therapy; D012825:Silicon / Q000737:chemistry; D012996:Solutions; D014462:Ultrafiltration
D012996:Solutions; D012825:Silicon