A US–based Indian–origin researcher, Shuvo Roy, has created the world's first implantable artificial kidney. What's sensational about Roy's creation is that the organ, no larger than the size of a coffee cup, will be able to mimic the kidney's most vital functions like filtering toxins out of the bloodstream, regulating blood pressure and producing the all–important vitamin D.
The artificial kidney has been tested successfully on animals, and its human trials are expected to be held over the next five years. Once available, and if affordable, this creation by the Roy–led team at the University of California will do away with the need for kidney dialysis.
This will be a great help for all patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). In India, of the 1.5 lakh new patients who suffer from end–stage renal failure annually, only 3,500 get kidney transplants and 6,000–10,000 undergo dialysis. The rest perish due to an acute shortage of dialysis centres and nephrologists to man them.
CKD is rising at a rapid pace in India and the majority of those who die are either unable to find a suitable organ for transplantation or are unable to pay the high dialysis costs.