Survive thanks to a homemade dialysis machine

Every three times, a Chinese man sits in his tiny toilet to filter his blood with a simple dialysis machine.

As a college student, Hu Songwen - now living in Qutang Town, Jiangsu Province, China - suffers from chronic kidney failure, making the kidneys unable to remove waste from the blood. He had dialysis in the hospital since 1993 and ran out of money after 6 years. Harsh but not surrendering to fate, the alumni decided to build a dialysis machine to reduce the cost of treatment, China Daily reported.

Hu built the dialysis machine from old kitchen appliances and medical equipment. (Photo: Rex Features)

With old kitchen appliances and medical devices, Hu successfully built a dialysis machine capable of acting like a kidney outside the body. It consists of two compartments. Blood is pumped through one compartment, and the dialysis fluid flows into the other. A thin film between the two compartments helps the machine prevent molecules larger than a certain level.

Hu creates a dialysis solution by mixing potassium chloride, salt, bicarbonate salt with pure water.

The machine has helped him expel waste from the blood for the past 13 years. Each time he walked into the toilet, he inserted two tubes into the artery in his arm. Blood from the arm is pumped out a tube, flows through the machine and then back to the body through the other tube.

"I only have to spend 60 yuan for each dialysis at home, equivalent to 12% of the cost at the hospital , " Hu said.

The tools Hu uses to prepare the solution
dialysis: water bottles, pans and scales. (Photo: Rex Features)

Doctors warn Hu may become infected or complicate by not using sterile water during the preparation of dialysis solution.

Hu's two friends died after dialysis with his dialysis machine, but he had no other choice.

After Phuong Nam magazine published Hu's story, the local government decided to provide Hu with medical allowance so that the cost of dialysis at the hospital was equivalent to the cost of home treatment. But Hu did not show enthusiasm for the local government's proposal, because the nearest hospital was quite far from home, while he was taking care of his 81-year-old mother.

"In addition, hospitals are in overload because of the large number of people in need of medical treatment , " Hu said.