Automated wearable artificial kidney is effective in removing toxins from the blood of patients during peritoneal dialysis, claims a recent study.

The study was presented at ASN Kidney Week at the Walter E. Washington Convention Centre in Washington, DC. Researchers are testing the potential of an automated wearable artificial kidney (AWAK) device for peritoneal dialysis (PD) treatments, which would allow dialysis to be performed on-the-go, overcoming the challenge of long hours of therapy and connection to large dialysis machines. A sorbent-based regenerative technology in the AWAK PD therapy allows for high dose dialysis to be delivered with a low volume of dialysis solution.

The technology regenerates and reconstitutes used dialysis fluid into fresh fluid while removing toxins. In a first-in-human study, 15 participants underwent over 100 AWAK PD sessions. There were no serious adverse events up to 1 month after treatment, and the AWAK PD sessions were effective at removing waste substances from the blood. "The regenerative sorbent technology used in AWAK PD is an innovation with the potential to revolutionise the way peritoneal dialysis has been done in the past 40 years, providing portability and flexibility of treatment," said principal investigator Marjorie Foo Wai Yin, MD (Singapore General Hospital). "This technology also helps to reduce wastes and save resources by reusing dialysis fluids," added Marjorie Foo Wai Yin.