CreatiVasc innovation is driven by the challenges that End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) patients face. Faced with inability of their own kidneys to function properly, ESRD patients must rely on dialysis to live. This involves transport to a local dialysis clinic 3 times per week, where these patients are cannulated with 2 large needles that connect them to the dialysis machine, which filters waste from their bloodstream. Dialysis sessions can last from 2-4 hours and provide the lifeline for ESRD survivability.
All three methods that are used for dialysis connectivity - arteriovenous (AV) fistula, AV graft and catheter – involve universal complications, and there have been few innovation solutions to these complications in 30 years. This is the driving force behind the CreatiVasc innovation team: delivering new solutions to the ESRD field whose patients face the constant threat of losing patency (functionality) of their vascular access for dialysis.
The numbers behind kidney failure are staggering. Unfortunately, these numbers are driven by an increasing occurrence of three major factors: diabetes, hypertension and obesity. The increasing incidence of these diseases projects that the number of patients on dialysis will double over the next 10 years. The following data are taken from the 2008 Annual Data Report from the U.S. Renal Data System (www.usrds.org/adr.htm):
