Last June, Analog Devices wrote an article in Medical Design Briefs about the increasing need to engineer devices that provide healthcare in the home. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal highlights one technology that fits into this trend: a small purse-sized device, developed by Awak Technologies of Singapore, that would provide dialysis patients with the option to conduct treatment from home.
Although drawbacks do exist — cartridges must be changed several times a day, and there is also the risk of infection that comes with conducting home treatment on oneself — so do several advantages. Since this treatment provides a more continuous means of dialysis, patients would potentially experience a decrease in the side effects that result from inconsistent levels of chemicals and waste in the body between treatments. The device would also offer the benefit of using less of the expensive dialysate fluid; the fluid would need to be changed no more than once a month, according to the device's developers.
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