Breakthrough membrane technology could make dialysis portable

September 4, 2024

Story from UNC Department of Applied Physical Sciences

With the support of the ICS AGILE program, the researchers hope to develop a working prototype that would be the size of a smartphone, freeing patients from extended stays in dialysis centers.

In a promising initiative that could transform kidney dialysis, a multidisciplinary team of researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill is developing a membrane technology that has the potential to significantly miniaturize dialysis equipment, with the goal of providing convenient and effective treatment for millions of patients worldwide.

The aim is to develop membranes efficient enough to allow for a portable dialysis device, potentially the size of a smartphone. Their project, “Graphene Oxide Membranes for Portable Kidney Dialysis,” dubbed GENESIS, envisions a device that could operate using the body’s own blood pressure and disposable cartridges weighing only grams. The ultimate goal is to enable continuous, round-the-clock dialysis, allowing patients to lead normal lives without the need for frequent clinic visits.

“We believe that UNC has the expertise, know-how and infrastructure to achieve these ambitious goals,” said Theo Dingemans, PhD, a specialist in polymer chemistry and chair of the Department of Applied Physical Sciences. “With the support of the ICS AGILE program, we hope to develop a working prototype that can eventually be scaled and commercialized.”

Joining Dingemans in the project are Prabir Roy-Chaudhury, MD, PhD, a nephrologist and the Drs. Ronald and Katherine Falk Eminent Professor in the UNC School of Medicine, and Orlando Coronell, PhD, an expert in membrane technology for water purification and associate chair in the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. Central to this innovation is the development of ultra-thin polymer-graphene oxide nanocomposite membranes. These membranes can filter molecules precisely based on their size and allow fluids to pass through them much more efficiently than current filters.

“The hope is to create a device that can offer the same function as a kidney, but in a much more convenient and portable form,” said Roy-Chaudhury. “Most important, if the technology is both high quality and cheaper than conventional dialysis, it would allow for this life-saving treatment to be accessible to millions more people who currently can’t afford it. That would be a true cell phone moment for kidney dialysis—a quantum leap in technology and at a reduced cost.

Kidney disease affects 850 million people globally and is the ninth-leading cause of death. In the United States alone, one in seven adults, or 37 million people, suffer from the condition. Of these, 700,000 have end-stage kidney disease, requiring dialysis or a transplant that costs over $35 billion annually.

Current dialysis technology, which has not advanced much since the 1970s, offers limited improvement in patient outcomes. The three-year survival rate for patients on hemodialysis is only 50% and the procedure, which requires patients to visit a center three times a week for four-hour sessions, significantly impacts their quality of life.

The new type of membrane would be designed to enable the filter’s long-term functionality. The team plans on building and testing a small module to see how well their membranes work with water and known dissolved molecules. Then, they’ll test the membranes to see how well they can filter out toxins, like urea, while keeping important proteins, like albumin, in the blood. They’ll compare their results with those from existing commercial dialysis membranes to see how well their new membranes perform.

Dr. Orlando Coronell

“We are building a toolbox that allows us to selectively filter out harmful substances while retaining beneficial ones, just like a healthy kidney would,” said Coronell. “The interdisciplinary approach to tackling this very complex problem is what makes this project so exciting. There aren’t many schools in the country that have this capability. We’ve got everything here at Carolina to put our heads together and start thinking about this problem and see if we can make a difference for millions of people and come up with a better dialysis technology.”

Read the full story from UNC Applied Physical Sciences.

Contact the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health communications team at sphcomm@unc.edu.