LOS ANGELES—AWAK Technologies said Oct. 23 it will unveil its peritoneal dialysis-based wearable artificial kidney, envisioned to weigh 2 pounds, at the American Society of Nephrology’s Renal Week, which is being held in San Diego Oct. 29-31.
Currently, AWAK (Automated Wearable Artificial Kidney) is a 6-pound battery-operated prototype designed to provide 24/7 continuous dialysis. However, through continuous developmental effort, AWAK said it is working toward a weight of only 2 pounds.
This technology has been developed though joint research with the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
"It is truly a disruptive innovation that will change the landscape of the dialysis industry," said Dr. Gordon Ku, chairman of AWAK Technologies. "Besides improving the quality of life for patients, the paradigm changes from 'facilities-based dialysis' to 'personal-based dialysis,' this is vital in lowering the cost of the national healthcare system. More importantly, it contributes to the economy by allowing patients to be economically productive."
The first prototype is designed to provide a net dialysate exchange rate of 4L per hour. Based on a recent completed study on 8 patients using tidal peritoneal dialysis (reserve volume 500 mL, tidal volume 250 mL), this flow rate will translate into a weekly Kt/V of 4, a 100 percent increase over that used in current practice, according to the company.
AWAK will also incorporate a number of components focused on reducing infectious complications. The device is in the process of procuring U.S. Food and Drug Administration certification and is planned for clinical trials in the United States and Singapore in 2010.
"Based on the technique of peritoneal dialysis (PD) and sorbent-based regeneration of used dialysate in perpetuity, AWAK is both 'bloodless' and 'waterless’,” said Dr. David B. N. Lee, chief scientist and inventor. “Round-the-clock dialysis and ultra-filtration represents the ultimate form of 'frequent dialysis' and is expected to provide steady-state metabolic and fluid regulation. Because both the aqueous and the protein components of the used dialysate are regenerated and recycled, AWAK produces a novel protein-containing dialysate that is expected to reduce or eliminate protein-loss, with the additional possibility of removing protein-bound toxins."