Project summary
A breakthrough dialysis machine that can be used at home or by rural health workers in remote settings.
What is the issue?
Dialysis is a safe and effective treatment for kidney failure, ‘but it is expensive, costing $50,000-100,000 per patient annually in Australia. In Australia, dialysis is provided by health care systems. But each year in the developing world, up to 7 million people die because dialysis is too expensive for them to access.
What does the technology aim to do?
Ellen Medical Devices is building a breakthrough dialysis system which will provide millions of kidney patients around the world access to this life-saving treatment for the first time. This transformation is achieved through a radical reduction in cost.
The system employs peritoneal dialysis. It is pain free, portable and solar powered, using water from any source, it meets all safety standards. This costs just $1,000 to build and $5 a day to run.
Traditional peritoneal dialysis requires manufacturing bags of fluid at a central sterile manufacturing site, then transport across long distances at high cost. This system fills the bag at the point of care, eliminating manufacturing and transport costs, creating a new low-cost business model.
The machine can be used at home or by rural health workers in remote settings. It will save lives, create a new global business for NSW, and reduce costs – wherever dialysis is needed.
Company contact
Professor John Knight
jknight@georgeinstitute.org.au
0414 614 189