Wearable Artificial Kidney Will Soon Undergo First US Trial

The FDA recently approved a human trial of the Wearable Artificial Kidney (WAK), which has been involved in laboratory and clinical testing since 2001. Investigators have already completed successful human clinical trials in Italy and England. The WAK won an award from the FDA’s Innovation Challenge, a pilot program for innovative devices to treat ESRD. The goal of the US trial is to prove that WAK can remove as much physiologic fluid and salt from the body as kidneys do. The trial’s aims and expectations are described in a recent Nephrology News & Issues blog post.