Technology for Portable Dialysate Generator

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication of severe trauma, and it is critical for these patients to have rapid access to dialysis equipment. Unfortunately, battlefield hospitals may be unable to access the large volumes of dialysate fluid required. In order to avoid the high logistical cost of shipping aqueous solutions into battlefield locations and to ensure continual access to this potentially lifesaving treatment, it would be preferable to produce dialysate on demand in the field using locally available water sources. In this project TDA Research, Inc. (TDA) is developing a lightweight, portable device to produce dialysate fluid on demand in austere locations. The generator will use forward osmosis (FO) and a series of purification steps to produce sterile dialysate fluid from potable and non-potable water sources without requiring any electrical power. TDA’s current design produces 7-10 L/h of dialysate (three times the requested production rate). Not only will this technology dramatically reduce logistical costs associated with shipping dialysate fluid, it will ensure that supply chains are not interrupted and field hospitals are never without access to dialysate when patients develop AKI while waiting for evacuation.