Portable device for home use.

• Position: Improvements in dialysis equipment mean that patients can be treated at home

Emerging microtechnology from Oregon State University, Corvallis, is helping to develop a portable kidney dialysis machine that will make in-home treatment a reality, enabling hundreds of thousands of people to treat themselves at home instead of traveling to dialysis clinics three days a week.

"Current dialysis machines are based on 30-year-old technology and employ filter systems that are only about 28% efficient," points out Michael Baker, chief executive officer of Home Dialysis Plus, the firm developing the device. "By employing the microtechnology being developed at OSU's College of Engineering, the filter efficiency skyrockets to about 90%. And we're able to reduce the dimensions of a dialysis machine from the size of a refrigerator to the size of a piece of carry-on luggage, which makes treatment portable."

Researchers say the reduced size and increased efficiency will improve the lives of dialysis patients because treatments will be done in the home while patients are asleep at night. Many dialysis patients now have to limit travel and other opportunities due to time-consuming treatments that can take up to four hours. "A growing number of studies indicate that longer and/or more frequent in-home dialysis offers not only superior therapy, but also the opportunity to reduce costs," Baker maintains.

Moreover, scientists indicate that the technology known as multiscale materials and devices, or MMD, eventually could enable development of a wearable dialysis device, or even an implantable version...