The main purpose of our kidneys is to… It is intended to maintain the body’s water balance and remove toxins and harmful substances from the blood. This organ begins to lose its function if it does not adequately filter waste from the blood.

Kidney failure Patients who suffer need to be connected to a dialysis machine or undergo a donor transplant. Considering that there are at least 60,000 kidney patients in Turkey alone, the latest developments in the field of kidney transplantation are very encouraging. Recent studies by scientists show that dialysis machines and organ transplants will be replaced over time. artificial kidneys can leave.

This experiment, carried out by scientists using artificial kidneys, was first performed on pigs.

University of California for this experiment. UCSF (University of San Francisco) chose pigs as test subjects. They used human kidney cells grown in the laboratory and created a cell that mimics some of the basic functions of the kidney. bioreactor They developed the device.

Scientists who conducted this experiment on pigs conducted this experiment for a week. They noted no side effects. The team stated that they encountered no problems during the observation period and that their device was able to adapt different types of kidney cells and remove waste from the blood with another device. at the same time They hope they can clean it up.

“What we’re focusing on is safely replicating the basic functions of the kidneys.”

Bioengineer from the UCSF team Shuvo Roy, He says their goal is to mimic the functions of the kidney. During the kidney transplant process, the patient’s body requires very aggressive medications to prevent it from rejecting the donor. The team developed a device that functions like a kidney, making the treatment processes of kidney patients more effective and at the same time. more painless He hopes it works.

One of the important parts of the experiment was that the bioreactors placed in the pigs’ bodies showed no side effects. straight away connect to blood vessels device, proximal tubule It consists of cells. They used these cells in their experiments because they are the cells responsible for controlling water and salt levels in the body. The proximal tubule cells they studied had previously shown promise for kidney treatment.

This device is not yet suitable for full operation on the human body. But it’s an exciting development for patients.

The UCSF team isn’t done with their animal experiments yet. Your studies another month The team said if they are successful, they can test the device on people suffering from kidney failure.

Shuvo Roy, “We had to prove that a bioreactor device that would work wouldn’t require immunosuppressive drugs, and we did that.” say. Roy said they experienced no complications and were able to create all the kidney functions on a scale that humans can carry.