Chait Co-chairs Project to Improve Quality of Life for Patients with Kidney Failure

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Yossi Chait, mechanical and industrial engineering, was co-chair of a working group formed by the Kidney Health Initiative (KHI) to produce a supplement to the KHI’s “Technology Roadmap for Innovative Approaches to Renal Replacement Therapy.” Chait’s supplement and the accompanying report are aimed at spurring innovation in fluid management devices and techniques that will improve the quality of life of people with kidney failure.

Chait is the director of the Control in Biomedical Systems Research Laboratory, whose mission is todevelop feedback control methods and tools for biomedical applications.

The KHI seeks to catalyze innovation and the development of safe and effective patient-centered therapies for people living with kidney diseases. The KHI was established in September of 2012 under a memorandum of understanding between the American Society of Nephrology and U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

This supplement was the first KHI project to be co-chaired by a patient and the working group consisted of 15 patients, clinicians, researchers and technology developers.

The report says a critical function of renal replacement therapy is maintaining volume balance through fluid management.   

Leveraging the research activities outlined in the roadmap as well as technologies from other application areas, for example wearable devices such as glucose monitors as well as ultrasonography, this report outlines patient priorities, assesses currently available devices and techniques, identifies gaps and challenges that must be overcome, and recommends design specifications needed for near- and long-term solutions that can overcome those challenges and meet patient expectations.