Fostering Innovation in Fluid Management
Overview
Today's innovators can change the status quo in fluid management for people with kidney failure. For people with kidney failure, a critical function of kidney replacement therapy (KRT) is maintaining volume balance through fluid management. Too much or too little volume can result in significant complications, including morbidity and mortality. Despite the potential for severe complications, current fluid management methods amount to trial and error, and there are no approved devices for objectively measuring volume status.
The Kidney Health Initiative released a supplement to its KRT Technology Roadmap titled Fostering Innovation in Fluid Management to provide guidance to spur innovation in fluid management devices and techniques that will improve the quality of life of people with kidney failure. By summarizing patient priorities, standardizing definitions and terminology, and cataloguing existing and under-development relevant technologies, a Kidney Health Initiative working group produced a report to stimulate device innovation in fluid management.