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It would seem that the ultimate solution to this problem would be an implantable artificial kidney. Given that the technology for dialysis has been around for
by aheilbut 16y ago
It would seem that the ultimate solution to this problem would be an implantable artificial kidney. Given that the technology for dialysis has been around for so long, it's surprising that there hasn't been more progress in miniaturization over the last 40 years.
- CapitalistCartr 16y agoMuch of these problems with artificial organs revolve around the power supply. An artificial heart is pretty easy with modern technology compared to how to power it. Same for most organs.
- RodgerTheGreat 16y agoWell, the heart, lungs and to some extent kidneys are pretty simple to emulate, but the full suite of chemical functions performed by, say, the liver are actually pretty tough. That said, the power concerns are indeed another serious obstacle.
- cdavid 16y agoDialysis also requires expensive medicine, like e.g. EPO, which contributes to a non negligeable part of the cost. The 77000 $ / patient surprised me a little because the figures I have heard in France (family members involved in dialysis treatment)are actually higher, not lower.
- arn 16y agoAs much as this seems like a solution, its distant science fiction for now. The kidney is not a simple organ and once you start implanting foreign material into people you run into some major issues. Clotting and infection for example. In comarison, artificial heart (a mechanical pump) seems a simpler task and I don't remember hearing much on widespread applications of that lately.
- icegreentea 16y agoThere are multiple implantable artificial hearts in use right now. They're really only good in cases of near total heart failure, and generally only work to extend life by ~year at most (for now). Crank High Voltage has one of these as a plot device. Did anyone actually watch that movie?
- Jach 16y agoHow distant would you personally estimate? Close enough that it's worthwhile to pump some funds into it so it's achievable in, say, a decade or two?
- noonespecial 16y agoThey have a rediculouls hard time just maintaining access to the patients' blood supply. A machine that can do the filtering is actually the easy part. Getting fluids in and out of the body continuously and on a long term basis is actualy a very difficult problem.
- cstross 16y agoAs a Brit, I'm fascinated by the lack of discussion of CAPD here -- that's Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_ambulatory_peritoneal_dialysis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_ambulatory_peritonea... ). Back in the late eighties when I was working in clinical pharmacy practice, it was the big new thing -- cheaper than haemodialysis (CAPD fluid is dirt cheap, so cheap that hospitals had to brew it up themselves in their pharmaceutical manufacturing units because no commercial supplier could be arsed selling the stuff), more convenient for the patient (they could walk around while on CAPD, rather than being stuck in a chair), somewhat lower risk of infection when it was done right, no need for an expensive perfusion machine with blood filters, and so on. It's still used extensively in the NHS, and in some other countries -- but seems to be unheard-of in the USA.
- rendezvouscp 16y agoI wouldn’t say it’s unheard-of; perhaps my mom is an outlier, but she’s been doing Automated Peritoneal Dialysis for about 3.5 years.