Living Donors Online Message Board
Living Donation Discussion and News => Living Donation in the News => Topic started by: Clark on February 24, 2011, 09:30:42 PM
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http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/health/your_health&id=7971879
Artificial kidney may replace dialysis
Denise Dador
Half-a-million Americans suffer from chronic kidney failure each year, and that number keeps going up. The best available treatment is a transplant, but many have to wait years to get one if they get one at all. Now, an artificial kidney may be medicine's next big thing.
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An artificial kidney could soon be a solution. Researchers at University of California-San Francisco hope to implant the device right in the body.
Thousands of microscopic filters mimic the filtering role of a real kidney. One side filters out toxins while the other re-absorbs salt and water and emits waste. The body's own blood pressure performs the filtration without the need for a power supply.
"Because it's implanted and provides many of the same benefits of a transplant, the patient quality of life, the patient health, will be improved," said Frassetto.
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Researchers hope the artificial kidney will be in clinical trials in the next five years.