New research on dialysis may open the way for artificial kidneys

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute have developed a cryo-purification method (so-called cryo purification) to be able to purify waste water after dialysis without losing it. This method not only reduces the cost of dialysis but also paves the way for the development of an artificial kidney-like device that can be brought with him to help dialysis be more autonomous.

People with end-stage renal failure usually receive dialysis on a fixed schedule and for patients, dialysis is a burden they suffer. Removing toxins from the blood requires a large amount of filtered water and until now, there has been no effective way to reduce this cost of water.

Patients with end-stage renal failure usually require dialysis three to four times a week and every four to five hours because their kidneys are no longer working to flush water and toxins from the body. During dialysis, harmful metabolites are removed from the bloodstream by exposing blood to the body to contact dialysis fluid through dialysis membranes. The holes on this dialysis membrane are small enough for molecules of harmful metabolites such as urea, uric acid and creatinine to pass through to the dialysis liquid, while large molecules such as proteins and cells. Blood cells are retained. Blood in the body is circulated about three times an hour.

Hemodialysis is often associated with hospitals, affecting the patient's daily life.With the new research on clean water, patients can be on dialysis.

Costly and wasteful from dialysis water

A dialysis procedure requires approximately 400 liters of dialysis solution. Hospitals or dialysis centers often prepare water with a reverse osmosis system that consumes a lot of energy and is expensive. The challenge is that dialysis is used only once and will be removed as dirty water after dialysis treatment.

In Germany, with 90,000 patients on dialysis treatment, about 5.6 million cubic meters of ultra-clean water is required each year. Many parts of the world have no access to treatment and an estimated one million people die each year from dialysis.

According to Dr. Rainer Goldau, a researcher at the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany, dialysis water is very valuable. In Germany, dialysis water in a year can fill a cube with a water size of 175m and so far no effective measures have been taken to recover this dialysis water.

The human body makes about 25 grams of urea each, its molecular size is nearly the size of a water molecule that can pass through a semi-permeable membrane. The reverse osmosis technique used to create drinking water cannot completely remove urea, so it is not suitable for dialysis. Complex enzyme treatments can purify the dialysis water to reuse during dialysis for patients but are extremely expensive. These poor areas cannot access these measures in combination with water scarcity.

Dialysis is based on the water in the patient's body

Dr. Goldau is working on another form of cryo-purification , based on the freezing levels used in the beverage industry. The purpose of the study was to recover 90% of the water removed from the patient's body using dialysis. The idea is that blood toxins are removed with about two to three liters of water a day during each dialysis. Patients will replenish this water intake by drinking water. The remaining 25 to 30 liters of water will be cleaned and returned to the patient's body during dialysis.

'During our experiments, the amount of water removed was less than 10%. This amount of water is enough to filter out toxins. When perfecting the technique, it is almost a patient's kidney, ' said Dr. Goldan. In this way, the team of researchers, together with Dr. Goldan, wanted to establish a complete dialysis treatment using the same amount of water in the patient's body without dehydration. Expensive water filters are no longer needed.

So how does cryo purification work? It relies on freezing crystals to eliminate previously dissolved poisons. They are pushed onto the surface of the crystal.'The contaminants are removed simultaneously when the ice crystals are shaped when the water freezes. It allows for the separation of all urinary toxins, which are metabolic waste that the body needs to excrete through urine, '' Dr. Golden explained.

This procedure is carried out inside washing columns that are common in the beverage or chemical industry. With a mobile dialysis device, only a small washing-up filter tube can produce 30 to 40 ml / min of dialysis solution. To prepare for the process of cleaning the dialysis substance, only a small amount of energy is needed, electricity can be obtained from electricity, car batteries or from solar panels.

A sample product with a chiller is being finalized in the laboratory and a document for this invention has also been submitted. Researchers are focusing on a fully automated solution and to develop it is in need of support from industry partners.

Dialysis at home with the device on your side

'Our form of dialysis is designed to be able to filter the blood with a mobile device that can be brought with you.' According to the researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute facility in Rostock, Germany, diseases The nucleus connects to the blood vessels so that the blood and excess water are separated and returned to the body through a draping device containing a filter and a water tank of up to 4 liters. The device will connect this device to a point that does not need to be fixed to flush dirty dialysis water and replenish clean water.

The current dialysis in the hospital puts enormous pressure on the body and greatly affects the quality of life of the patient. According to studies, only 20 to 40% of patients are still alive after ten years. With long-term dialysis independent of the water source and can be done anytime at home or at work, the incidence and dialysis costs can be reduced. In addition, it is also available to people in drought-stricken areas around the world.

Another advantage is that dialysis centers and hospitals can reduce water costs. Dr. Goldau estimates that his process could save 90% of the water and wastewater that has been reused for dialysis. He hopes that this system can be ready for the market within five to seven years from the beginning of development.