Achieving more frequent and longer dialysis for the majority: wearable dialysis and implantable artificial kidney devices

The long-term survival for many chronic kidney failure patients who remain treated by dialysis in economically advanced countries remains similar to that of those with solid-organ malignancy, despite a disproportionate amount of health-care expenditure. As such, the current paradigm of three times weekly in-center hemodialysis for 4 h or shorter sessions needs to change to improve patient outcomes. Although more frequent and longer dialysis sessions have been reported to improve cardiovascular risk surrogates and short-term outcomes, these options are only practically available to a very small fraction of the total dialysis population. As such, radically new approaches are required to improve patient outcomes and quality of life for the majority of dialysis patients. Currently, two different approaches are being developed, wearable devices based on current dialysis techniques and more futuristic implantable devices modeled on the natural nephron.