Can New Technology Make Home Dialysis a More Realistic Option?

[okarol]

Can New Technology Make Home Dialysis a More Realistic Option?

The Tablo System promises to make dialysis easier and more convenient for patients. But there are significant barriers to the technology.

By Dawn MacKeen
Nov. 10, 2022
This article is part of Upstart, a series about companies harnessing new science and technology to solve challenges in their industries.

Paul Hall was thinking about his pool. In his mind, he was far from the nondescript clinic in Orange, Calif., where he was sitting quietly, his blood traveling through a hemodialysis machine, clearing it of toxins. Soon, he would be watching his three grandchildren splash around while doing his treatment. Or watching TV. And he would do it all at any hour he pleased.

“There’s no place like home,” Mr. Hall, 64, said.

He had just a few more sessions left to be trained on using the Tablo Hemodialysis System, a home dialysis product made by Outset Medical, based in San Jose. When he was done, he hoped to plug it in at his home in Moreno Valley.

The size of a college-dorm refrigerator, the hemodialysis machines of this generation look nothing like the hulking ones first introduced to the home market in the 1960s. A touch-screen, which uses 3-D animation to walk users through each step, is mounted atop a box with a built-in water purification system.

full story here: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/10/business/home-dialysis-tablo-outset.html

[iolaire]

It's great that companies keep working and innovating despite the lock hold on the industry by a few national and global companies.

[kristina]

It's great that companies keep working and innovating despite the lock hold on the industry by a few national and global companies.

... yes of course, but does this - in the long run - not mean, that with this all the responsibilities are shifted - from the qualified medical staff - to the patient and therefore all responsibilities lie with the (non medical) patient? And, developing such thoughts further, might it not also be a financial question because dialysis-centres which are run by nephrologists and nurses dedicated to look after, and care for, dialysis-needy-patients are very expensive to "run"?
... Just a thought ...