Our idea involves creating an innovative way to reduce the issues concerning internally placed artificial kidneys by combining dialysis machines and stem cell technology. Researchers have used human stem cells and nanotechnology to create the first prototypes for artificial kidneys, however the kidneys remain small in size and are not able to excrete urine and other wastes. We will continue the growth of artificial kidneys by using an additional type of stem cells and creating a mechanism to remove toxins from the blood and excrete urine from the artificial kidney in order to make it feasible for routine use to treat kidney failure in humans.
The first step is continuing the growth of artificial kidneys by including another type of stem cells. When stem
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The excretory system filters and eliminates these waste substances, which would otherwise build up in the blood to dangerous levels. With the current silicon nanotechnology used to make artificial kidneys from stem cells, there is no mechanism for the kidneys to excrete urine and other wastes. The second part of our idea for a future technology is to create an extremely small-scaled dialyzer that can be placed internally and properly excrete these waste products. Current dialyzers are about a foot long, surrounded by plastic and inserted into a holder on the front or the side of the dialysis machine. This dialysis machine is always outside of the body and often next to the patient. Dialyzers are made of a thin, fibrous material that creates a semipermeable membrane. This allows small particles and liquids, such as sodium and potassium, to pass through, while having larger particles, like blood cells, stay within. Our proposed, smaller dialyzer will have to be made out of natural products that will both be safe to be within the body and will efficiently carry out its