Novel Materials for the Direct Removal of Water and Ions from the Body for Patients with Dialysis Needs

This paper describes a novel material for the direct removal of water and ions from the body of patients with End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). The work is part of a larger project that is envisioned to be a new type of dialysis process that could replace or enhance existing dialysis methods. The main idea is to implant a unit either and/or outside the body of the patients with renal failure so that they do not have to go through the painstaking and exhausting hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis processes existing today. The proposed work in its final embodiment will eliminate such processes and allow the patients to lead a more normal life than is possible with current state-of-the-art processes and equipment. This paper provides preliminary results to show that a sol gel based material has been formulated that can absorb 30% water, 30% sodium ions and almost 50% potassium ions in a laboratory setting from a mixture that simulates the amounts produced by the human body with ESRD.