Virinchi Hospitals, Hyderabad is at the forefront of providing world class treatment for kidney ailments and is leading a crusade to develop new path-breaking treatments to alleviate the suffering of patients suffering with this dreadful disease
In these efforts it is joining hands in highly innovative, collaborative research, with the world-renowned Renal Research Institute, New York.
The first joint project is to advance the allo-hemodialysis device, which is a novel, inexpensive treatment for terminal kidney failure. This treatment has the potential to revolutionise the treatment of kidney failure worldwide, especially in impoverished parts of the world, so that no person anywhere dies for the lack of access to dialysis treatment, something that is currently elusive, primarily for economic reasons.
Leading these projects from Virinchi Hospitals will be Dr. K S Nayak, a world expert in treating kidney diseases along with Prof. Peter Kotanko, Research Director at the Renal Research Institute, New York. It is expected that this formal collaboration between these two leading institutions will be the beginning of many ground breaking inventions aimed at providing new and affordable treatments for kidney failure.
Description of allo-hemodialysis
Lack of affordable renal replacement therapy (RRT), especially in limited resource settings, puts patients with kidney failure at risk of imminent death. The 2019 published Global Kidney Health Atlas projected that in 2030, 14.5 million people will have end stage kidney disease and need RRT, yet over 60% (9.1 million patients) will not receive it due to economic, social, and political factors.
We propose allo-hemodialysis (alloHD) as a novel dialytic RRT modality where the patient’s blood flows in the dialyzer counter-current to the blood of a healthy subject (“buddy”). Fluid and toxins transferred from the patient to the buddy are excreted by the buddy’s healthy kidneys. It is envisioned that, for example, a child with acute kidney failure could be treated by relatives who serve as buddies. A range of delivery models are currently under discussion, they will highly depend on local and medical considerations. AlloHD could be delivered also at home, avoiding the costs of building and operating conventional dialysis centers.
Extensive mathematical simulations of uremic solute kinetics and alloHD prototype bench tests corroborate the feasibility of alloHD to deliver adequate RRT. Animal studies are underway to gain further insights into this novel RRT concept.
Due to its drastically reduced technical and logistical complexities compared to current renal replacement technologies, alloHD is expected to lower the costs of dialysis and make lifesaving RRT accessible in particular to disadvantaged populations.
About Renal Research Institute, New York
Renal Research Institute (RRI), is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fresenius Medical Care (FMC). RRI is an incubator of innovations, treatment processes, and technologies to improve the outcomes of kidney patients across the world. RRI operates over 20 dialysis facilities in six states in the United States of America. RRI has developed advanced mathematical models aimed at improving the care of dialysis patients in collaboration with FMC’s Global Research and Development (GRD) division and has spearheaded the concept of virtual clinical trials (VCTs). VCT-derived algorithms have been implemented at Fresenius Kidney Care (FKC) clinics throughout North America, potentially benefiting over 160,000 FKC dialysis patients.
Some of the key innovations of RRI are
- Virtual Clinical Trials and development of Patient Avatars (“mathematical twins”)
- Intradialytic Monitoring
- Predictive Analytics
- Smartphone-Based Point-of-Care Diagnostics
About Virinchi Hospitals
Virinchi Hospitals is one of the fastest growing healthcare chains in India with a flagship 600-bed high-end tertiary care facility at Banjara Hills plus a 140 bed tertiary care virinchihospitals.com at Hayath nagar and a 60 bed secondary care at Barkathpura, all in the city of Hyderabad. With more than 500 senior consultants working across the chain of hospitals, Virinchi is the market disruptor bringing in the latest medical innovations across the world to India, with its technology-led approach to healthcare delivery through an integrated digital healthcare platform which connects stakeholders across the healthcare spectrum.
