Implantable artificial kidney to end dialysis by end of decade?

New Delhi: Millions of people suffering from chronic kidney disease (CKD) may now pin their hope on a new device that can mimic a kidney and keep patients off the dialysis.

The fist-sized device, which is being engineered in the US, will go through a series of trials for its safety on patients and would be made available in the market, possibly by the end of the decade.

The development could mean that patients who are undergoing dialysis treatments that make them to lie on a hospital bed for hours would soon be relieved when the implantable artificial kidney takes over the function.

“The device being engineered in the US will go through a series of safety and efficacy trials on hundreds of patients in that country before it is approved by the FDA,” said Dr Shuvo Roy, co-inventor of the device and researcher of University of California San Francisco.

Dr Roy said that the device can be implanted in the abdomen and will be powered by the heart is designed to filter the blood and perform other kidney functions.

Dr Roy spoke about the device and how it evolved while delivering a lecture at the Tanker annual charity and awards night on Wednesday.

It is said that each year nearly 2.5 lakh people in India die due to kidney problems. Diabetes and high blood pressure are the two main causes which account for many deaths.

Earlier, health experts had said that the number of people suffering from chronic kidney ailments has doubled in India in the past 15 years, and at present 17 in every hundred citizens suffer from some form of kidney disease.