Scientists have developed a coffee-cup-sized prototype of a surgically implantable artificial kidney that uses a silicon nanofilter to mimic the function of glomerular filtration. The new device shows great prospect to eliminate the need of either painful, costly dialysis support or hassles of finding a donor for transplant. End Stage Renal Disorder (ESRD) affects almost 1.5 to 2 million people all over the world.
Life-sustaining supports like hemodialysis is available, but this short-term solution is highly expensive, time-consuming and does not replace all the vital function of a healthy kidney. The cost of a transplant is much lower than running the patient under dialysis, but still it is not an effective option due to the worldwide shortage of donors and due to related ethical and clinical issues. A great alternative to this growing problem would be developing an artificial kidney…
