Home Renal Dialysis Machine Offers Patients More Freedom

A new home dialysis machine helps patients with kidney failure and end stage renal disease (ESRD) self-administer peritoneal dialysis at home while they sleep.

The Liberty Cycler is intended for use in automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) therapy, regulating the exchange of used and fresh dialysis fluid while the patient sleeps; but unlike hemodialysis, the Liberty does not require needles. The Liberty Cycler fills and empties the abdomen with dialysate three to five times at night during sleep; in the morning, dialysate flows into the abdomen, and the catheter is detached from the system. The dialysate is carried in the peritoneal cavity during the day. During that time, normal daily activities can be maintained. At night, the catheter is reattached to the cycler before sleep, to perform APD one again.

The Liberty Cycler features a large color touch screen that gives easy to follow directions accompanied by pictures, an easy-to-load APD treatment cassette, and special connectors that are automatically inserted into the catheter lumen, making it easy to perform dialysate exchanges. The Liberty Cycler has a small footprint, small enough to fit on a nightstand, and requires no special plumbing or electrical hook-ups. The Liberty Cycler is available only through the dialysis facilities of the developer Fresenius Medical Care (Bad Homburg, Germany).

"Fresenius Medical Care recognizes that many dialysis patients have active lifestyles, and want more choices for treatment,” said Michael Lazarus, M.D., chief medical officer and senior executive VP of Fresenius Medical Care North America. "Many patients have discovered that dialyzing while they sleep provides them with the freedom to continue to pursue their careers, care for their families, or enjoy their years of retirement.”

The fluids used in APD contain either a glucose and amino acid solution or a compound called icodextrin to remove water from the patients blood, with the glucose solution most commonly used. The glucose "strength” (1.5%, 2.5% or 4.25%) of the solution determines how much water is removed--the higher the concentration, the greater the effect. The amino acids in the solution are used to improve the patient's nutritional condition. The benefits of the icodextrin fluid, on the other hand, are that it removes more water than the glucose solution for longer exchange intervals, and that it is glucose- free, which is advantageous both for the peritoneum and the body as a whole.

Related Links:
Fresenius Medical Care