Two pioneers exchanged notes recently when Willem J Kolff, the inventor of the world's first artificial kidney, flew to Germany to spend time with Membrana, the company that developed the first membrane especially for kidney dialysis.
Dr Kolff had visited Membrana once before - more than thirty years ago, when kidney dialysis was still in its early stages. 'I was invited to give a lecture for Membrana', recalls Dr Kolff. 'they put up a large tent, closed production, and organised a luncheon for the personnel.' This was shortly after Membrana introduced CUPROPHAN®, the first membrane specifically for use in renal patients, first in flat and then in capillary form. Membrana went on to modify the basic cellulose used for CUPROPHAN® to produce HEMOPHAN®, with improved biocompatibility and unsurpassed phosphate clearance, and has continued to lead the field in innovative membrane research and development.
Things have changed a lot since that time and during this visit, resulting from a meeting at the ESAO Congress in Ghent in September 2001, Dr Kolff was able to inspect the state-of-the-art manufacturing processes for today's modern range of synthetic and synthetically modified membranes, represented by the DIAPES® family and SMC® respectively. He was fascinated to see however, that CUPROPHAN® is still widely used, and still setting standards in low molecular weight clearance after all these years.
Dr Kolff spent two days with the staff at Membrana, including lecturing on problems in dialysis and his early experiences with artificial kidneys to over 100 staff and nephrologists from the surrounding region. Those who strive to improve dialysis techniques today should feel encouraged by just how far it has come - Dr Kolff still has vivid memories of the uncertainties and sheer practical difficulties of the first experiments.
For Willem Kolff, now into his nineties, it must be wonderful to see that his faith in the practicality of renal replacement therapy has been justified. Dialysis may not be perfect, and for many ESRD patients transplantation is still the goal, but companies like Membrana have made a vast difference not only to survival rates but also to the quality of life enjoyed by kidney patients. For the researchers, developers and production staff at Membrana, the chance to meet, talk and ask advice of the man who made the whole process possible was an occasion to remember.
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