The world's first
affordable dialysis

An initiative of

The device

Our mission

To meet the need for affordable dialysis around the world

Research on the global burden of kidney disease, published in The Lancet, carries grim tidings. Medical researchers at The George Institute for Global Health have calculated that somewhere between 5 and 10 million people in the world need dialysis right now for terminal kidney failure, but only 2.5 million have access to it, mostly due to cost – the rest will die an unpleasant death. The news gets worse: the number of people on dialysis is set to rise to 5 million by the year 2030, and most of the increase will be in developing countries.

Prevention measures will help, so will improved incomes, better living standards and better nutrition. But despite all this, there are now and will continue to be many millions of people who need dialysis to stay alive, at least until they can get a kidney transplant, and most of them will die an unpleasant and avoidable death from a treatable condition.

Dialysis machines purify the blood, replacing an essential function of the kidneys. They currently cost US$10-20,000 or more each, and need to be attached to elaborate water purification systems which often cost the same again. So the world urgently needs an affordable dialysis machine, one that runs on solar power and can easily purify and use water from any source.

This is the world's first affordable dialysis system.

In 2017, Ellen Medical was a finalist in the Eureka Awards, Australia's most prestigious science awards. 

In 2018, Ellen Medical was awarded $2.2 million from the NSW Medical Devices Fund.

Listen to Professor John Knight on ABC Radio Weekend Mornings with Simon Marnie:

The water purifier, care station and solar panel.

A close-up of the care station.

The entire device can fit inside a small suitcase.

Every year 1.4 million people die in India because they cannot afford dialysis – this is one family’s story.

 

 

This is the story of a mother-of-four called Baby from Haryana in Northern India. She was suffering from chronic kidney disease but could only afford life-saving dialysis once a week – she needed to go three times. Shortly after filming ended we learned she stopped going for any treatment because it was simply unaffordable and died shortly afterwards. She was just 38 years old. Her story demonstrates just why the Affordable Dialysis System is so urgently needed.

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© Ellen Medical Devices. ACN 616 594 891. An initiative of The George Institute for Global Health. A George Health company.