It’s 2022. The last century has seen technological advancements at an unprecedented rate in many different fields – but not in the treatment of ESRD. At last, we are bringing dialysis treatment into the 21st century.
The quest for truly portable dialysis:
Although some dialysis companies claim that their devices are portable, they are not. All of today’s dialysis and CRRT machines require two things that limit a patient’s mobility:
- A wall outlet for electricity. The power cord is a tether. The patient cannot move any farther than the power cord can reach. To achieve true portability, the device must be able to work on rechargeable batteries.
WAO’s devices run on rechargeable batteries, freeing the patient from the tether. - Large amounts of sterile water or dialysis fluid. Every dialysis treatment requires many liters of special, clean fluid. A patient is only as mobile as his ability to carry around the fluid needed for treatment.
WAO’s devices contain a miniaturized water treatment plant that cleans the dirty water (dialysate) so that it can be used again and again, for up to 24 hours. This technology allows our devices to operate effectively on only 300cc of fluid, achieving true portability.
A better way of life:
The last time that dialysis technology improved the quality of life of patients was in the 1960’s. Despite leaps and bounds in the progress of other technologies, dialysis still operates in the same way that it did 60 years ago. Patients still suffer from the same debilitating side effects of their disease now as they did when Lyndon B. Johnson was president of the United States.
WAO technology breaks this stagnation and delivers the first meaningful improvement in patients’ quality of life in decades.
Slow and steady wins better health:
Getting dialysis treatment three times a week is like urinating only three times a week. Salts, water and toxic materials accumulate in the body between treatments. This causes debilitating pain, fatigue and numerous other problems, some of which can lead to death. When patients go through dialysis, their entire blood volume is pumped out of their bodies, filtered through a dialyzer and returned into the body in the space of 3-4 hours. This fast filtration causes a sudden drop in blood volume as the excess water is filtered out, which can cause a potentially deadly drop in blood pressure. Then, patients experience a period of 2-3 days where the water and salts accumulate in the body again. The human body does not tolerate these drastic drops very well. High blood pressure and pneumonia are just two of the common effects of today’s dialysis treatment.
Studies have shown that slow, continuous dialysis avoids these problems {CITATION}. The problem, of course, was portability. To get slow, continuous dialysis, patients would have to spend most of their day hooked up to a large, stationary machine. This, of course is not practical and much too expensive.
WAO’s devices provide dialysis treatment at a rate that is close to that of a natural kidney. This rate can be adjusted to each patient’s individual needs. Because these devices are truly portable, patients will be able to get their treatments at the slow and steady pace that nature requires, while going about their daily lives.
Water and salt and bananas – Oh my!
Since current dialysis treatments allow patients to “urinate” only three times a week, these patients cannot drink a lot of fluids. The more they drink, the more excess water accumulates in their bodies, leading to potentially deadly consequences. These patients, therefore, suffer from, literally, unquenchable thirst. The same goes for salts. Dialysis patients must eat a completely bland diet to minimize the effects of excess salts between treatments.
As though that were not enough, current dialysis treatments do not effectively remove all the toxins that our bodies produce as byproducts of digestion, respiration, and just plain living. Dialysis patients, therefore, have to limit their diets so that they don’t eat foods high in such things as phosphorous and potassium. So… no bananas, no oranges, no potatoes… To get rid of the phosphates and other toxins, some patients must take as many as 30 pills per day.
The WAO devices remove water and salts continuously, patients will be able to drink as much as they want and will have fewer salt restrictions. Our testing of the device prototypes show that our technology removes phosphorous, potassium and other toxins. We therefore expect that patients using our devices will have a much more liberal diet and will not have to take as many pills.
Meet the WAO Systems
WAK 3.0 (Wearable Artificial Kidney)
A small wearable device which filters your blood..
PCRRT (Portable Continuous Renal Replacement Treatment device)
A rechargeable device that continually recharges dialysate fluid.
Mission Statement:
WAO strives to reduce mortality and improve quality of life in patients suffering from End Stage Renal Disease by providing a dialysis device that can filter the blood slowly, continuously, and effectively like a natural kidney would. In doing so, WAO will provide a treatment that is significantly more economical than the current treatments, requires fewer resources to operate and save billions of dollars each year in dialysis related expenses by eliminating the need for many drugs, surgeries and hospital stays.