The Dutch Kidney Foundation’s suitcase-sized “Neokidney” is now in longer clinical testing in Utrecht and abroad—part of a push to make dialysis fit life, not the other way around.

UTRECHT, the Netherlands — Jan. 15, 2026

For millions of people worldwide, hemodialysis is not only a medical treatment—it is a calendar that rarely budges. With kidneys no longer able to filter blood properly, patients depend on a machine to do it for them. Globally, about 2.8 million people rely on hemodialysis, often three times a week for around four hours per session.

In the Netherlands, roughly 5,000 people undergo the same life-sustaining routine. Because today’s in-center systems are large and immovable, dialysis can feel like a permanent tether—to the hospital, to the home, to a narrow geography of “possible.”

Now a Dutch-led effort is trying to loosen that tether.

The Dutch Kidney Foundation (Nierstichting)—better known to many as a funder and advocate—has spent more than a decade pushing a different vision: a portable hemodialysis machine that could enable treatment at home and potentially while traveling, in a device designed to fit into the footprint of everyday life.

That device is called Neokidney. It fits into a roll-aboard suitcase and is now being evaluated in longer clinical testing at UMC Utrecht, with additional trial sites in Belgium and France.

What’s Different About Neokidney

Home hemodialysis already exists, but it typically requires space for a large machine, extensive supplies, and technical home modifications—barriers that keep many patients from choosing it.

Neokidney’s pitch is practicality: compactness, portability, and lower fluid needs, designed so dialysis can happen in a more familiar environment without turning a home into a mini-clinic.

According to Nextkidney—the company developing the system—the device weighs close to 10 kg and is engineered to fit into cabin-size luggage, using about 5 liters of dialysis fluid per treatment.

“More freedom to go where you want, when you want, means a great deal to patients,” said Karin Gerritsen, an internist-nephrologist at UMC Utrecht involved in the European study.

In the current phase, approximately 50 patients are being followed for longer-term use, including use at home—a shift from earlier, shorter in-hospital evaluations.
NOS reported that the study will ultimately assess around a thousand treatments as researchers look at cleansing performance, fluid removal, side effects, and effects on vital signs and blood values.

When a Foundation Decides to Build, Not Just Fund

The Dutch Kidney Foundation began exploring a portable artificial kidney initiative in 2008, and in 2014 moved into international development partnerships to push the concept into real engineering and prototypes.

It also took a step that is unusual for a patient charity: creating a mission-driven route to market.

To help ensure the device could reach patients—not remain a research artifact—the Foundation helped establish Nextkidney, together with international partners including Debiotech (Switzerland) and Dialyss (Singapore).

Nextkidney now leads the device’s development and preparation for broader availability, including regulatory pathways and commercialization.

The Timeline: Ambition Meets Regulation (and Reimbursement)

Nextkidney has expressed the ambition to begin introduction for Dutch patients toward the end of 2026, alongside continued trials and European regulatory steps.

At the same time, NOS reported that—if results remain positive—reimbursement in the Netherlands is expected most likely in 2027 or 2028, reflecting the realities of approvals, adoption and coverage decisions.

That reimbursement question is central. If a new dialysis approach isn’t accepted and covered, it won’t scale—no matter how promising the technology.

The Dutch Kidney Foundation has noted early support from major insurers CZ, Menzis and Zilveren Kruis, who have backed the initiative and are engaged in how care could be organized and reimbursed at introduction.

A Dutch Invention, Reimagined

There is also a historical echo: hemodialysis has Dutch roots. The physician Willem Kolff developed early dialysis technology during World War II and performed the first successful treatment in 1945; he later pursued portable concepts that proved too difficult to manufacture at the time.

For the Dutch Kidney Foundation, Neokidney is a continuation of that line—trying to finally turn the idea of portable dialysis into something patients can actually use.

Beyond the Patient: A Tool for Mobility, Even in Crisis

The device’s portability could matter beyond ordinary routines. NOS reported that the Foundation also sees potential value in disaster settings, where infrastructure failures can leave dialysis patients with dangerously few options.

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This story was also covered by:
NOS Nieuws on Jan. 15, 2026. Met draagbare kunstnier wil Nierstichting patiënten weer vrijheid geven
Dutch Kidney Foundation on Jan. 15, 2026. Nederlands initiatief moet vrijheid teruggeven aan dialysepatiënten | Nierstichting