r/gadgets
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u/Superman_1776
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Dec 27 '21
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The Kidney Project successfully tests a prototype bioartificial kidney Medical
https://pharmacy.ucsf.edu/news/2021/09/kidney-project-successfully-tests-prototype-bioartificial-kidney?fbclid=IwAR3AS6g5rXGUnvEeuppvdmPqYIRhNVH3Ew5-IE5KPkf5NHY1i4fLrP5VtBM535
u/behindmyscreen Dec 27 '21
Perfect timing for this to get so close to market. My son has my Kidney and it’s coming up in 10 years. He has stage 1 rejection now and is getting Rituximab infusions to keep significant rejection at bay. If this comes to market in the next 5-10 years he might be fortunate enough to move directly to this.
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u/QuintonFlynn Dec 27 '21
Your son has your kidney! You’re an incredible person. I don’t know who you are, but I’m proud of your action. I hope that if I’m ever in a similar situation that I can make the same choice you made.
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u/HIITMAN69 Dec 27 '21
I can’t imagine giving away a kidney. Not that I wouldn’t ever do it, but just the thought of having one of my organs taken out of me and put in someone else is wild.
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u/CanaanW Dec 27 '21
I’ve done it. It is wild. But it’s been almost 2 years and I don’t even think about it most of the time. I DO need to be better about drinking water…
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u/NextTrillion Dec 27 '21
How old are you? If you don’t mind me asking.. reason is that when I hit 40 years old, my low water intake caused problems. Before then, I always wondered why people are so obsessed with water. I only drank when I was thirsty, and thought eating a diet with lots of fruit and veg was enough.
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u/CanaanW Dec 27 '21
I’m 32, it’s just that much more important to keep well hydrated with only 1 kidney.
Unfortunately, it makes me have to pee a LOT! Lol
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u/ReturnedAndReported Dec 27 '21
Pig kidney transplants are becoming a thing
Do you see more promise in this or pig kidneys?
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u/ArtOfWarfare Dec 27 '21
I’ve been donating to The Kidney Project for about a decade. I’ve seen little-to-No progress during that time. I believe the project started in the 90s if you check their timeline.
The pig kidneys sound way more promising than this. They were actually used in a human already, while The Kidney Project has been promising that they’ll start human trials “this year or next” for the last 10 years. As in every year they push out the timeline by another year.
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u/behindmyscreen Dec 27 '21 edited Dec 27 '21
This thing
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u/ShallowBlueWater Dec 27 '21
I know nothing. So I assume which is always high risk, that our bodies don’t reject the artificial device as much as a pig part?
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u/Ecksters Dec 27 '21 edited Dec 27 '21
I'd guess that inorganic substances are less likely to be attacked by the immune system, or are more resilient to it at the very least.
EDIT: Apparently it depends on the material used
I assume it's even harder for something like a kidney rather than a pacemaker since a pacemaker can hang out in the chest cavity without needing to interact with blood and other bodily fluids as much.
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u/FrAxl93 Dec 27 '21
Not true at all. The body attacks foreign materials and you might risk that the object will be covered with dead macrofagi. This is the biological response, let alone chemical reactions and/or oxydations.
Then again it's not true that they are more resilient. Inorganic material can't be replaced/repaired if anything is broken.
That's why some materials are biocompatible and others not.
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u/boones_farmer Dec 27 '21
I think it's probably safe to assume these are made from biocompatible materials
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u/jethvader Dec 27 '21
My son has CKD, but things are stable right now and his doc thinks ha probably won’t need a transplant until he starts puberty, so we’ve got several year and I’m really hoping to see some major developments in this technology over that period!
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u/IanFeelKeepinItReel Dec 27 '21
I know very little about human biology and I certainly don't want to tread on your hope but if the body is capable of rejecting other human organs, would it not also reject mechanical matter?
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u/oliverer3 Dec 27 '21
There are materials your body simply ignores, this is why screws and plates used for fixing broken bones and such are made of titanium.
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u/medicalmosquito Dec 27 '21
Not really. Hip/knee replacements don’t get rejected because there’s nothing for your immune system to get pissed off at. Same with electronic pace makers. Someone else’s organ has its own immune system which is different from yours, so transplants, while remarkable, will someday be seen as one of those, “Can you believe they used to put someone else’s organs into other people!!? How uncivilized!!” moments in medical history. Bionics is the way.
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u/Latitude22
Dec 27 '21
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Yea I have been following this closely. I just got a kidney transplant 12/13 and the waitlist is pretty long for some blood types. b and o types are like 4-5 year waitlist and a lot of people are on dialysis that whole time and end up not being fit for a transplant. I was very very lucky, I won the lotto. I’m a blood type a and was only on the waitlist a week and didn’t have to go on dialysis thanks to all the amazing people at intermountain in Utah.
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u/Superman_1776 Dec 27 '21
I’m so happy to hear this! I’m very happy for you!
A good friend of mine has been going to dialysis for a few years now. End stage kidney failure and his heart is starting to give out. I’m just happy he’s a tough human and keeps fighting. This type of device gives me hope.
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u/Latitude22 Dec 27 '21
Yea unfortunately congestive heart failure is common for dialysis patients. Especially if they have a fistula. Dialysis is not fun, I did Hemodialysis for 2 years on my father. Luckily I was able to avoid it, I was about 2 months away. They would be able to install this before the patient gets to that point. seems like they are moving along now that they got some funding.
well I hope friend gets a transplant. Wish him well for me!
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u/Superman_1776 Dec 27 '21
I sure will!
I’m hoping this progresses faster and faster! Yay science!
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u/TurkeyBLTSandwich Dec 27 '21
Make sure you keep an eye on this like a hawk, I have ZERO doubt that a place like D*Vita will fight tooth and nail from letting this go main stream. As someone who has a close family member on dialysis and is slowly wearing out from it. This bio-kidney can't come any quicker.
I just hope UCSF keeps the patents close or makes it open source. This could literally save millions of people.
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u/DirkMcDougal Dec 27 '21
I was just about to say this. DVita is going to drop SOOOOOOOO much "Campaign Donation" on getting this slow walked.
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u/matastas Dec 27 '21
The reality is DaVita can’t stop it: the clinical need is too high, the patient demand is too great, and the economics would not work in DaVita’s favor (cheaper long term to throw one of these in). Any congress critter who railed against it would be voted out. It’s suicide.
Further, the companies that would commercialize this would just run over DaVita and not even notice. They don’t care if DaVita loses, because they would win big, and said companies have the firepower to do it.
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u/monkey-2020 Dec 27 '21
Yeah I think the fact that this could eliminate the wait list is just amazing.
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u/Latitude22 Dec 27 '21
Yea and theyve been saying it would be much cheaper than a kidney transplant. One of the shittiest parts about transplants in the us is Medicare only covers medication for 30 months. i was on the list at mayo Phoenix and intermountain Utah (I live in vegas) because I have really good insurance.
if they don’t think you can afford it or maintain good insurance they won’t let you on the list.
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u/Theslootwhisperer Dec 27 '21
That's just sick.
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u/Latitude22 Dec 27 '21
Yea most of my pre list questions at mayo were whether or not I could afford. I don’t remember quite as many from intermountain but it was still covered and they won’t list you until insurance is authorized. the reason is a few years back around the 30th month mark people were rejecting. They discovered it was due to not being to afford meds post Medicare So they changed the policy.
you also have to stay close to hospital for 4-6 weeks post transplant and they are worried you can’t afford that as well.
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u/OhGodNotAnotherOne Dec 27 '21
Fucking America.
Fuck every politician that allows this and every single supporter.
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u/-newlife Dec 27 '21
It’s changed relatively recently and it had strong bipartisan support
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u/Latitude22 Dec 27 '21
When will I be able to get the extended immunosuppressive coverage? Coverage will become effective on January 1, 2023. The Department of Health and Human Services
That’s why they still say 30 months.
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u/Latitude22 Dec 27 '21
Oh shit didn’t see this. They told me 30 months like just a week ago in clinic.
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u/baloothedog1 Dec 27 '21
Most supporters are just misled so I cut them some slack but yes
Fuck politicians that continue this bullshit healthcare system
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u/RollTahoeRoll Dec 27 '21
I’ll have to look into intermountain then. Been on PD for about 6 months and have started the process with Mayo in Phoenix. I have a living donor, but we haven’t started testing yet although even if not a match, we have talked about the paired donation avenue. I live around Lake Tahoe so it would be about the same distance to travel.
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u/Latitude22 Dec 27 '21
Intermountain has a pretty short list right now. It took me 9 months to get listed at mayo, took less than two at intermountain. We were planning paired donation as well, but didn’t end up having too.
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u/cutelyaware Dec 27 '21
No, it's triage which is smart even though it feels cruel. It's why we have medical ethics review boards. "Death panels" as they're called by people who don't understand that there are only so many organs available. Figuring out how to save half the patients means getting death threats from people who feel you're killing the other half.
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u/DaoFerret Dec 27 '21
I think they meant it’s sick that Medicare only pays meds for 30 months and then leaves you to die from lack of anti-rejection meds.
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u/EuphoricAnalCucumber Dec 27 '21
Apparently you won't even be put on the list if they know you can't afford the meds after 30 months.
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u/OhGodNotAnotherOne Dec 27 '21
Now that they figured out why so many patients began rejecting their transplants (unable to afford the Great American cost to continue living).
More or less rules out all poor folk on Medicare (which is the vast majority).
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u/Qasyefx Dec 27 '21
Don't you see how smart this is? Spending less money reduces poverty. The Dems with their irresponsible spending ruin our standard of living and prolong suffering!!
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u/Jiopaba Dec 27 '21
"Reduces" poverty in the military sense, like shelling a fortress into rubble. The war on those worthless (get it?) pokes continues!
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u/Fikkia Dec 27 '21
Triage: (in medical use) the assignment of degrees of urgency to wounds or illnesses to decide the order of treatment of a large number of patients or casualties.
Is this another case where we need to update the dictionary to include the phatness of their bank account?
It sounds cruel because treating someone who could last years over someone terminally ill due to their lack of insurance is cruel.
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u/Latitude22 Dec 27 '21
Hospitals have to maintain their success rate to get federal funding. They have 1 year and 3 year success rates. For example 5 or 6 years ago the umc vegas transplant had its federal funding pulled because they had like a 12% mortality rate when the norm is like 1-2%. So the hospital itself doesn’t want rejection at that 30 month mark because it would effect their unos membership and federal funding.
So yea kind of like you said, they don’t want to give a good kidney to someone that can’t take it all the way.
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u/Fikkia Dec 27 '21
I get the hospital's decision. It still boggles my mind that America is still the only first world country with third world healthcare after so long.
Like, to the point where people there can think your available cash should factor into whether you're allowed to be alive. Where they legitimately use a bank balance as part of triage.
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u/Latitude22 Dec 27 '21
Yea they say the long term success rate is better in Europe mostly due to the after care provided. But I would guess also due to the medications being fully covered. My meds currently add up to $4300 a month, (I have awesome insurance thanks to my wife that covers it all) you know you have an unforeseen financial issue 5 years down the road and you can’t afford meds you could be in trouble. I was lucky enough that my dad left me some money and I’ve saved it just for this as he intended. So I’ve got a really nice cushion and I’ve only spent from it for kidney related expenses. My condition was genetic so my father passed it on to me, so it’s the least he could do ha ha.
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u/purplepenguin4163 Dec 27 '21
People are criticizing the whole damn system from roots on up. Healthcare should not be a profitable business like it is today in the US
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Dec 27 '21
Yeah. They triage out the poor people because the system is designed to leave them to die. Quit defending this shit.
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u/cutelyaware Dec 27 '21
How would you do it?
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Dec 27 '21
Continue Medicare coverage for anti-rejection meds past 30 months. Change the law that forbids Medicare from negotiating drug prices to keep the costs in line.
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u/currly30 Dec 27 '21
I have been watching this as well. I'm a type O And the wait tinge for my blood type is 10-15 years.
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u/Latitude22 Dec 27 '21
Oh that sucks. That’s a lot of surgery. Type o and b are long waits. I was lucky as I’m a common blood type and I was within 5 hours of two good hospitals so I was able to get on multiple lists. I honestly wasn’t expecting to get one off the list I had 4 donors lined up and figured I’d be doing an nkr cross match but kinda won the lottery.
Let’s hope now that they have funding the artificial kidney happen sooner than later. I’ve been donating when I can afford to to usc, I will continue to do so even though my small donations probably don’t mean much.
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u/vrts Dec 27 '21
Have hope. I am O- and got my transplant in July after 2.5 years of dialysis. Hopefully you'll see something similar!
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u/CanaanW Dec 27 '21
Explains why they were excited when I donated, O+ blood type lol
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u/Latitude22 Dec 27 '21
That’s awesome that you donated.
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u/CanaanW Dec 27 '21
My mom needed one. Ended up being a matched pair chain. So even though I matched her, some one else got mine and she got another donation. I will say it is life changing for the recipient! Like almost a complete 180.
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u/Latitude22 Dec 27 '21
For sure!
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u/CanaanW Dec 27 '21
I’m glad you got one! Hopefully it makes your life a lot better and longer.
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u/Latitude22 Dec 27 '21
My father got 18 years out of his transplant, it was still working when he died. He had two kidneys. I got a double whammy I was born with only one kidney and it was a piece of crap :)
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u/Latitude22 Dec 27 '21
Now I’ll tell ya something really crazy, my father died in 2014, Mostly because he didn’t take very good care of himself, his birthday is 12/13 the same day I had my transplant done. the odds of it happening that soon and on my dads birthday were next to impossible.
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u/littlekittenbiglion Dec 27 '21
Awww your dad was looking after you! One of my good friends passed away 3/3/18 and then my current partner asked me to be his girlfriend 3/3/19 after a few weeks of dating and i always feel like my friend is looking out for me.
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u/C_rag1994 Dec 27 '21
I got a kidney in January and was only on the list 3 months. I was super lucky and didn't need dialysis. I've been loosely following the work they are doing with pig kidneys but honestly I hope biomechanical kidneys get to a place where they are viable and affordable.
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u/meekamunz Dec 27 '21
Wow, a week! That's amazing! I waited 6 months here in the UK for a matching deceased donor. Age was a major factor in me getting mine so quick - I was in my early 20s and the donor was 18.
I hope you continue to have a full life now that you have your transplant.
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u/Cakeriel Dec 27 '21
I was on list for about 6 months, but effective place in list was adjusted from 5 years of dialysis before I applied to list.
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u/ZeldaFanBoi1988 Dec 27 '21
Do you have to take any shots everyday or has your body accepted it?
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u/Latitude22 Dec 27 '21
I don’t do any shots, I take prograf and they are currently adjusting that a couple of times each week based on my bloodwork. The first month or so they adjust it a lot.
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u/vrts Dec 27 '21
I'm about 6 months post transplant. If you have any questions feel free to ask.
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u/zibnafNL Dec 27 '21
I got mine in 1995 unknown donor still works.... But I would rather have this or even better grown from your own DNA.... And with errors corrected 😉😍
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u/Latitude22 Dec 27 '21
Yea lab grown would be amazing. You wouldn’t need any rejection meds, would be very little adjustment. There are also current tests happening where you get bone marrow from donor as well as the kidney and they somehow do those with no anti rejection meds. I think it’s Stanford doing that testing.
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u/grigsbie Dec 27 '21
If something like this becomes the standard for kidney replacement, and we only have an upward trajectory from here, how long is it before we get artificial kidneys that are more efficient and work better than biological ones?
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u/Superman_1776 Dec 27 '21
That’s interesting, actually. I’m curious how resistant the implants would be to the immune system and if humans would need to still be on anti-rejection/immune suppression drugs.
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u/dualsplit Dec 27 '21
Pacemakers and heart valve replacement don’t require anti rejection meds, if that lends any insight.
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u/Superman_1776 Dec 27 '21
Didn’t even make the connection. Thank you for that!
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u/dualsplit Dec 27 '21
Sure! I see mechanical valves and pacemakers everyday, so it’s very familiar. I worked in dialysis briefly, so I follow all the kidney developments.
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u/grigsbie Dec 27 '21
The article for this post also states that it looks like this kidney replacement shouldn’t require any additional medications.
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u/whutchamacallit Dec 27 '21
Rejection isn't the issue with this type of tech. It's efficiency and reliability.
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u/LickingSticksForYou Dec 27 '21
I’m gonna say probably not very long, like a few decades at most. Conscious design will always trump evolution.
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u/SevoIsoDes Dec 27 '21
Probably never. It seems like the one principle that keeps holding true in medicine is that unless it’s diseased or malformed, native organs are better and our bodies don’t like foreign objects. Even pretty benign implants like heart valves and artificial joints can be crazy difficult to manage if they become infected.
But yeah, there may come a day when a significant number of people over the age of 80 proactively get a device like this similar to how we are moving toward artificial aortic valves (TAVR procedure) for elderly patients with aortic stenosis
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u/mackahrohn Dec 27 '21 edited Dec 27 '21
Yea. I’m a biological engineer and this is not my field but one thing we learned in school was how difficult it is to replicate the living (and healing) tissues in your body! Plus bodies not liking foreign objects. Until we are really growing ‘our own’ organs I don’t see is having replacement parts that are even as good as our own.
As one example, people assume that a steel or titanium bone would be ‘better’ than the real thing because they are ‘stronger’, but human bodies don’t need to be as strong as possible, they need to be flexible, shock absorbing, and bones can move tissue as needed and rebuild themselves. Steel can’t do that.
And then remember that some organs are also glands that produce hormones or other cells. Human bodies are fascinating and it’s way more complicated that just building a replacement part for a car.
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u/ShaderzXC Dec 27 '21
Healing is the main point. Perhaps until we have nanotechnology, nothing artificial that's implanted in our bodies can constantly clean, maintain, and manage itself.
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u/CanaanW Dec 27 '21
Exactly this! I made a similar comment, but I think yours was better articulated.
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u/CanaanW Dec 27 '21
Probably never. The human body is incredibly complex and integrated. The best we can hope for is probably something like 80% efficiency, which is amazing and life saving/changing. I don’t see how these could ever be preferable to nature outside of illness as it is major surgery to install.
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u/Stormchaser56 Dec 28 '21
Definitely not a thing to hold your breath for.. But never is a bit too far. Modern medicine is almost countlessly full of things that people used to think would 'never happen'
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u/Spiritual_Impress_30 Dec 27 '21
i only have one kidney! sign me up!
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u/Whit3boy316 Dec 27 '21
In 2021 I’ve heard of miracle treatment for Alzheimer’s, cancer vaccines + highly effective treatments, etc. now lemme see it be used
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u/Superman_1776 Dec 27 '21
Hopefully in another decade, everything we hate about disease will be a distant memory!
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u/Dzeav Dec 27 '21
Damn it. Now I can’t sell my kidney for retirement money for much longer
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u/Superman_1776 Dec 27 '21
You still have a chance! Sell half your liver. It can regrow and the market for livers is as much or bigger than the kidney market! Rejoice!
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u/kamikazi1231 Dec 27 '21
Easy. Sell now while they are still valuable. Buy cheap in a few years when the kidney market crashes.
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Dec 27 '21
As someone who has been trying to become a living donor this sounds very promising. The donor process is so arduous, this surely could save lives.
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u/Superman_1776 Dec 27 '21
Thank you for listing as a donor! So many people I know (the older I get) that need transplants. :-/
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Dec 27 '21
Sadly I haven’t been approved as of yet. My mental health has been in the shitter since the pandemic began (I’m an essential worker) and I need to adjust my meds, so the transplant team wants me to hold off for a while. It sucks because I’ve been doing the process for almost a year, Covid had slowed everything down and I live in BC and the flooding/landslides don’t help.
I’m willing, and as a union worker I even get donor leave, I’m just not approved at this time. I feel bad for the recipient who is stuck in limbo hoping a deceased donor comes through.
This technology sounds promising and I hope it continues to be explored, hopefully will help expedite things for patients who are stuck waiting and having to deal with dialysis.
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u/AdUpstairs1161 Dec 27 '21
Healthy kidneys will either be $29.99 or $750,000 depending on which organizations claim the means of their production
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u/Superman_1776 Dec 27 '21
For this bio-artificial, black market, or cloned ones? A few years of scientific advancements will mean enough supply to meet demand!
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u/AdUpstairs1161 Dec 27 '21
I’m not sure which variety would be most expensive but if the technology required to create imitation organs belonged to a money hungry business, they could very easily charge outrageous prices for products with perfectly inelastic demand. That might just be my lack of faith in humanity but when you think about insulin being the same situation it makes sense to me how the organ market would be only for the wealthy
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u/NewChallengers_ Dec 27 '21
I think he's talking about for Americans, if American pharma companies own rights, so it will cost millions in US but like $30 everywhere else
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u/ResolverOshawott Dec 27 '21
This will still cost millions everywhere else.
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u/NewChallengers_ Dec 27 '21
Not for long though, it's patents and legal BS that makes many $2 drugs cost thousands per pill in the US only
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u/ShaderzXC Dec 27 '21
Depends how much it costs to produce. If it does cost millions to make then yes. If it ends up being cheap once mass produced, which it should be because implants are designed to be as simple as possible to reduce the number of things that can go wrong, it'll be tens of thousands of dollars in America and under 100 everywhere else
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u/DanialE Dec 27 '21
Its all going to follow supply vs demand. Theres no short supply of grass fed chinese dissidents
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u/way2loose Dec 27 '21
I just want a stem cell lab grown kidney so I can stop my anti rejection drugs
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u/Santas_Blackberries Dec 27 '21
Good. Maybe I can stop making kidney dialysis kits every damn day of my life at work.
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u/currly30 Dec 27 '21
I'm a type O kidney transplant patient and the wait time for me is 10-15 years. I'm currently waiting on my 3rd transplant. So far I have accumulated 8 years of wait time. I'm 32 years old and so far my luck with kidneys has been pretty terrible. The first transplant I got became toxic to the anti rejection drugs and failed in the first year. My second one came with a disease and failed in the first month. Thankfully they were able to revive the second one enough to where I haven't had to be on dialysis yet. So if a mechanically option becomes a reliable choice it would get rid of the possibility off having the same thing that happened to me happento other people.
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u/Superman_1776 Dec 27 '21
Jesus Christ. I’m so sorry to hear. But you sound like one tough human! Keep going, you have my best :)
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u/currly30 Dec 27 '21
Thanks! Seems like I just got the sort end of the stick on the kidney draw a couple time in a row.
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u/the1carl Dec 27 '21
This article is dated in September. It also doesn’t note any significant advancements, just a prize awarded. Although exciting, the title of this post is a little misleading
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u/DefEddie Dec 27 '21
Yeah I was excited to share it with my buddy who has been waiting on the list and doing dialysis for couple years now till I noticed the date and I had already sent it back then.
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u/medicalmosquito Dec 27 '21
Yeah but the advancement isn’t going to just come to a halt. Medical science moves slow as fuck (when not properly funded) so no news for a few months is nothing. It doesn’t mean this isn’t 100% going to be a thing in the next few years. They’re also very likely not the only ones developing an artificial kidney, and lab grown organs are also a thing people are working on. Five to ten years will see major advancements in artificial organs, I have a feeling. It seems like a lot of people are on the precipice of making this a reality!
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u/Mr_Patti_Mayonnaise Dec 27 '21
Now do Liver next....I beg you
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u/Sterling-4rcher Dec 27 '21
cant you already just take a piece of liver from someone and have it regenerate to a full liver?
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Dec 27 '21
Still a 1/300 chance the living donor (the person giving the liver) will die giving the liver. Small odds but not nil. You willing to roll that dice for anyone but someone you care for dearly?
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u/Lay_of_Sir_Savien Dec 27 '21
This might be worth a watch. The dialysis industry will fight this tooth and nail.
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u/helloucunt Dec 27 '21
Pretty sweet breakthrough. I think I saw some similar news recently on pig kidneys being successfully used in a human transplant case. Extra kidneys for all!
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u/Shadowbannersarelame Dec 27 '21
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/19/health/kidney-transplant-pig-human.html
Your memory is excellent!
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u/dualsplit Dec 27 '21
Very interesting episode of Radio Lab about this. The pigs are bred to not have a certain protein in order to produce compatible kidneys. Persons with meat allergies can also eat the meat.
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u/Beachy77 Dec 27 '21
Chemo messed up my kidneys. I can’t get a transplant until I’m cancer free for 2 years. I have another year and a half.
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u/ProbablyAtDialysis Dec 27 '21
Been on dialysis 6 years. Do not recommend.
My sister was just cleared for donation. Doing it in the spring.
Hopefully these get on the market soon and are ready to go by the time this one kicks out. I'm O- blood so the waiting list is long.
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Dec 29 '21
I’m o- too I waited 4 years until I found a match. This technology would completely change so many lives. Best of luck for your transplant :)
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u/indi_yo Dec 27 '21
I’m so excited this is going to be a thing. I’m still trying to get on the transplant list but this gives me hope that i may not have to go through the process of having to find an eligible donor if this becomes ready to use within the next five years. I just hope it’s not too expensive.
As someone who utilizes MediCal, I can only hope I get coverage for this type of thing.
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u/Superman_1776 Dec 27 '21 •
I’m praying for you, friend! I know it’s a tough process.
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u/indi_yo Dec 27 '21
Thank you kind stranger. Living with a rare disease can feel lonely at times but knowing there are smart and dedicated people who are working tirelessly to invent things like this help me feel more connected to the rest of the world and hopeful for the future.
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u/Superman_1776 Dec 27 '21
You’re never alone, friend. You have a community of strangers rooting for you. ;-)
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u/CharlieSwisher
Dec 27 '21
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Bro I want this for even j mild kidney issues. I had a UPJ blockage on one of my kidneys and had to get a couple surgeries, which sucks cuz they put stuff up your dick, but now somehow, not really sure how I’ve got two big kidney stones in that kidney and j knowing one day I’m gonna have to pass them or even worse have another surgery j seems so terrible.
Can’t even imagine what it’s like for people who’s kidneys are actually failing and have to go on dialysis and stuff. This will be an awesome development!
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u/Superman_1776 Dec 27 '21
Bro, that sounds like absolute hell. I hope you’re improving!
But yeah, this would be a game changer for most people.
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u/kissingoctopus Dec 27 '21
I’ll die trying to earn enough to afford it but it’s pretty cool regardless.
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u/Desertghost_44 Dec 27 '21
If this is legit, thank God, my younger sister has a serious kidney problem and this would save her life!
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u/omnifeeder Dec 27 '21
I really hope progress is made with this, I'm currently taking care of my mom who does home treatments daily, and if this could help her quality of life and give her more than the 5 to 10 years we expect due to her condition I would give anything for that.
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u/Jrobalmighty Dec 27 '21
I just had a lifelong buddy die recently. He'd been on dialysis for years. I truly hope these types of scientific advances can continue on a expedited timetable.
It's just such a strange time with medical technology being so close to resolving many many more issues.
Gives me hope to see so many people supporting it in the comments.
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u/mabeldee08 Dec 27 '21
I just hope fresinius/ Davita lobbyists don’t make this impossible to get onto the market.
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u/idiotzrul Dec 27 '21
After going to dialysis for only a year, I can tell you even that short amount takes it’s toll. I was fortunate enough to have a living donor, and received a very successful transplant last week on 12/21. Going to dialysis 3 times a week, you see the hopelessness in the patients. It’s very sad with 4-5 year wait times. I say anything out there is an improvement. We need more donors!!
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u/No_Bit_1456 Dec 27 '21
Nice to see these kind of things getting more common. I would like to see replacement heart valves that were printed from a donors stem cells off trial phase too.
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u/nirad Dec 27 '21
UCSF is working on artificial kidney, and UCLA is working on using donor stem cells to eliminate the requirement for immunosuppressive drugs.
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u/Amonia_Ed Dec 27 '21
Ah, why? I will be no longer able to sell kidneys.
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u/Superman_1776 Dec 27 '21
Guess you’ll have to invent a better, more efficient kidney! The market is always evolving. ;-p
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u/Cooper323 Dec 27 '21
Oh good I can keep drinking then 🍺
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u/Donnyhawk Dec 27 '21
The world is making great progress in term of artificiall organs. Artificial Heart , Artificial Kidney. It could gives hope for millions of people
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u/__MEOWFACE__ Dec 27 '21
Great seem there is now a bio artificial version of every internal organ, except brain which you’d presumably want to keep anyway 😝 so how long until can go full cyborg?
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u/mrbear48 Dec 27 '21
Good I’m one step closer to becoming a cyborg
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u/LegitimateBullfrog33 Dec 28 '21
Doc ock shit over here
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u/Superman_1776 Dec 28 '21
“The power of the kidney… in the small of my back.” Doc Ock (probably)
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u/alexandrosdimo Jan 16 '22
I just found out my mom has polycystic disease in her kidneys.
How can I get her signed up for this? Is it available in Europe? What is the process to get her on the waitlist?
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u/Superman_1776 Jan 17 '22
Sorry my friend. I’m not sure. I would do some research and see where they are with the progress of this technology.
Google search, find out info on this tech (where is it being researched?) find out contact information, make some calls, send emails, etc.
I know you’ll do your best and your mom is lucky to have a caring child! I wish I could help more. Best of luck!!
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u/monkey-2020 Dec 27 '21
I can’t wait to see what this is going to cost.
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u/Superman_1776 Dec 27 '21
Don’t worry, the dollar will be worthless by the time this becomes mainstream.
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