Vanderbilt University Develops Artificial Implantable Kidney Powered By The Heart

 
 

Vanderbilt University is working with the University of California San Francisco to try and deliver the Holy Grail of discoveries for the Chronic Kidney Disease Community - an Artificial Kidney that is able to be implanted and function in place of a patient's failed kidneys. 

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Science Daily reported, "Nephrologists are making major progress on a first-of-its-kind device to free kidney patients from Dialysis." Vanderbilt University's addition to the research is that the team is building the implantable artificial kidney with "microchip filters and living kidney cells that will be powered by a patient's own heart." 

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Lead Researcher, Dr. William H. Fissell IV (Nephrologist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center) said, "We are creating a bio-hybrid device that can mimic a kidney to remove enough waste products, salt, and water to keep a patient off Dialysis." This device is expected to be the size of a soda can which should easily fit into a patient's body.

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The key to this device is a microchip which will act as a scaffold in which living kidney cells will rest and mimic the natural actions of the kidney. This is great because the device will not be at risk of rejection due to a Chronic Kidney Disease patient's immune system attacking it. However, a major challenge which the team has openly acknowledged is blood flow.

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"Our challenge is to take blood in a blood vessel and push it through the device. We must transform that unsteady pulsating blood flow in the arteries and move it through an artificial device without clotting or damage," said Dr. Fissell. This is a challenge that researchers like biomedical engineer Amanda Buck are tackling. 

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Just like the University's philanthropic and business magnate Founder, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Dr. Fissell and his research team are both kind-hearted and ambitious. "My patients are absolutely my heroes," said the good doctor. "They come back again and again and they accept a crushing burden of illness because they want to live. And they're willing to put all of that at risk for the sake of another patient."

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Moreover, the Chronic Kidney Disease Community needs positive and realistic news like this to give patients hope for the future. One regular viewer, Henderson George, left a comment on the KidneyBuzz.com Facebook Fan Page, "How do patients deal with the end of life treatment. ..when we have had enough Dialysis? Any feedback?" Share this promising and exciting news about the great momentum to end the need for Dialysis which our community is currently experiencing. It may cause a patient who is considering the idea of giving up and stopping Dialysis, to keep going.

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Join the conversation! Would you try the Vanderbilt University Artificial Implantable Kidney? Does news like this give you hope? Your opinion matters. Like KidneyBuzz.com on Facebook (click here) and share your insights with our nearly 73,000 friends. Also, visit KidneyBuzz.com every day for the latest breaking news, information, Daily Impact Meal, Inspirational Quotes, Products and Services which teach those with Chronic Kidney Disease, Dialysis, Kidney Transplant, Diabetes, and High Blood Pressure how to better manage and improve their lives. 

 

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