Automated wearable artificial kidney may improve peritoneal dialysis

Washington, DC : Peritoneal dialysis performed with an automated wearable artificial kidney can effectively remove toxins from the blood of patients with kidney failure. The findings come from a study that will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2019 November 5-November 10 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC.

Researchers are testing the potential of an Automated Wearable Artificial Kidney (AWAK) device for peritoneal dialysis (PD) treatments, which would allow dialysis to be performed on-the-go, overcoming the challenge of long hours of therapy and connection to large dialysis machines. A sorbent-based regenerative technology in the AWAK PD therapy allows for high dose dialysis to be delivered with a low volume of dialysis solution. The technology regenerates and reconstitutes used dialysis fluid into fresh fluid while removing toxins.

In a first-in-human study, 15 participants underwent over 100 AWAK PD sessions. There were no serious adverse events up to 1 month after treatment, and the AWAK PD sessions were effective at removing waste substances from the blood.

“The regenerative sorbent technology used in AWAK PD is an innovation with the potential to revolutionize the way peritoneal dialysis has been done in the past 40 years, providing portability and flexibility of treatment,” said principal investigator Marjorie Foo Wai Yin, MD (Singapore General Hospital). “This technology also helps to reduce wastes and save resources by reusing dialysis fluids.”