The next generation of artificial kidneys

November 13, 2007

Precision tooling at the micro-molecular level — is being used to create the next generation of artificial kidneys, ones that would be small enough to be implanted and engineered to more closely simulate the function of human kidneys than current equipment.

Scientists at Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute in Ohio have completed some key initial steps in this process. Employing technology used to make computer chips, they’ve fabricated synthetic membranes with pores engineered to filter the blood with exquisite selectivity: trapping the bad stuff — toxic metabolic waste products such as urea, plus excess fluids and salts — without robbing the body of critical proteins and blood cells. (Los Angeles Times)