Dialysis on the go for kidney patients waiting transplants

The new kit could mean patients can go shopping,take a walk or even go abroad instead of spending hours hooked up in a hospital ward,say the scientists.

A trial is already under way at the University Children’s Hospital in Tubingen,Germany,the ‘Sunday Express’ reported.

Team leader Professor Rupert Handgretinger hailed it as ‘a major breakthrough’. “The children can continue a normal life with their families,” he said.

In fact,the scientists made the revolutionary advance by squeezing its dialysis kit into a laptop-sized bag.

A sterile sugar and mineral solution is pumped through a tube from the bag to the abdomen and,crucially,the kit needs just a litre of fluid which can be recycled for six months.

Timothy Statham,chief executive of the National Kidney Federation,said the news was ‘exciting’ for patients needing dialysis.

“This could improve the quality of life for many,” he added.