This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project focuses on the further development of an advanced, mobile, easy-to-use, patient-oriented, advanced Home Hemodialysis (HHD) system that minimizes the use of water (less than 6 liters) and medical waste, and importantly, minimizes nutrient loss. End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is a devastating, disabling disease. Many ESRD patients and their family members are severely limited in the mobility and freedom due to the time and effort of having hemodialysis (HD) treatments at hospitals and dialysis centers. Our ultimate goal is to develop a next generation lightweight HD machine (~22 kg) equipped with high precision components and an innovative dialysate regeneration cartridge (DRC). This Phase II program focuses on the construction of a prototype HHD machine that is fully equipped with necessary functions and safety devices. The intellectual merits are based on both the highly efficient and selective DRC composed of a specifically functionalized sorbent, and the compact and highly efficient HD machine that allows for a well-configured and accurately controlled dialysis treatment. This development would greatly improve quality of life for ESRD patients and their families by allowing for effective and comfortable treatment at home, or even at work or school.
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project, if successful, is to reduce the economic burden of ESRD on both patients and Federal healthcare programs. As the number of HD patients approaches 3 million globally, it is becoming critical to decrease the cost and resource burden of treating these patients by drastically decreasing facility costs, use of water and energy in treatment. The second impact is to increase patients' quality of life by facilitating greater flexibility in the length and place of treatment (home, school, work). This system also allows for the personalized dialysis treatment of patients through selective adsorption of toxins. The proposed mobile, semi-portable HD machine offers many advantages over currently available dialysis systems, resulting in high commercial potential. The system will enhance the scientific and technical knowledge in the fields of bioengineering of dialysis and chemistry of sorbent technologies. Given the flexibility in dialysis treatment, the quality of life of dialysis patients will be greatly enhanced. Since this product achieves two goals simultaneously, namely improved treatment and reduced cost, it has a significant advantage over many of the competitive products available today.
