The device, made by Quanta, is currently used by around 50 patients in the UK, but more than a dozen NHS trusts are planning to offer the technology to patients this year and experts say it could be life-changing for kidney patients disease. Speaking ahead of the announcement of the Royal Academy of Engineers’ MacRobert Prize on Tuesday afternoon, Professor Sir Richard Friend, chairman of the judging panel, said the technology demonstrated “remarkable engineering ingenuity” and had the potential to dramatically improve patients’ quality of life and relieve pressure on hospitals. “The team exemplifies the tenacity, innovation and unconventional thinking that has long characterized the UK’s greatest engineering success stories and are worthy winners of the MacRobert Award,” Friend said. Hemodialysis removes waste products and excess fluid from the blood when the kidneys stop working properly. This usually involves diverting the blood to a machine, about the size of a fridge-freezer, where it passes through a complex system of mechanical valves, pumps and mixing chambers before being returned to the body. Patients would typically have the procedure three times a week for four hours at a time. Of the 30,000 dialysis patients in the UK, only around 5% use home machines because until now these have worked less efficiently than hospital systems, meaning patients have to be connected for longer periods. In the Quanta device, called the SC+, the pistons and valve system are replaced by a single-use cartridge enclosed within a flexible membrane, which is compressed and released using pressure changes within the machine to control the flow of dialysis fluid inside. The desktop machine is much smaller, requires no specialized training to use, and works as efficiently as the conventional version. The technology was originally developed to reconstitute orange juice from concentrate, but the team behind the invention saw its potential medical applications and created the company Quanta. Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST One patient, Lewis Till, 21, from Wolverhampton, has been on dialysis for two years after developing an autoimmune kidney condition, but said dialysis at the hospital was not frequent enough to keep him “really well” and the trip alone in the hospital was very tiring. After switching to the Quanta device, he undergoes dialysis five times a week for three hours, which has improved his health and he can spend time with family or playing video games at home. “I wish the general public had a better understanding of kidney disease and how serious it is, because there’s a lack of recognition so people on dialysis don’t really have support or much understanding of how tough it is,” she said. “This can make it difficult to try to explain to employers or your friends and family how it affects your ability to carry on with your normal life.” Quanta CEO John Milad said the device had been “a lifetime’s work to make happen” for the team behind the innovation and that winning the award was a “huge validation of what we’ve been doing” to transform lives . Previous MacRobert Award winners include the engineers who developed Rolls-Royce’s iconic Harrier jet engine and the team that designed the Severn Bridge.
