The Artificial Kidney Innovations Lab was proud to contribute to the 51st Annual Meeting of the European Society for Artificial Organs (ESAO), hosted by the University of Twente. Over 3.5 days, our team engaged with international researchers, clinicians, and engineers to exchange ideas, present new findings, and strengthen collaborations in the field of artificial organ development.
As part of our mission to advance a compact, implantable artificial kidney, we presented a broad set of scientific contributions that reflect the strength of our multidisciplinary approach—spanning clinical expertise, membrane materials, fluidic modelling, microfluidic testing systems, and integrated sensing technologies.
Dr. Karin Gerritsen (UMC Utrecht) opened the conference for our lab with a keynote talk titled “From portable to an implantable artificial kidney.” Her talk highlighted the momentum of Dutch-led initiatives in kidney replacement therapy and stressed the critical role of clinical collaboration in the development of future-ready technologies.
Dr. Tuğrul Irmak (UMC Utrecht) had a presentation on “Modelling & design of an implantable dialyser for hemodialysis without needles,” sharing innovative concepts for improving safety and patient comfort through new dialyser architectures. However, due to his fundraiser obligations for “Climb against time” (Climb Against Time), this work was presented by MSc. Tadeo Alcerreca (UMC Utrecht & University of Twente), who also gave his presentation on “Polyelectrolyte-coated silicon-rich silicon nitride substrates for high-clearance selective membranes for an implantable artificial kidney.” These talks underscored the lab’s continued development of high-performance membranes and internal designs tailored for miniaturized, selective toxin removal.
A related poster titled “A novel flow-through in-vitro pipeline for hemocompatibility testing of artificial kidney membranes”—designed by Tuğrul Irmak—was presented by Dr. it. Jeroen Vollenbroek and co-developed with Tadeo Alcerreca. This work demonstrates a scalable, human-blood-based testing platform that enables rapid screening of blood-compatible materials and surfaces under realistic flow conditions.
In another contribution, MSc. João Brás (UMC Utrecht & University of Twente) presented findings from his study “Warming Up To Improve Hemodialysis: Uremic Toxin Clearance Non-Linearly Rises With Temperature.” His results point to the potential of mild temperature modulation as a method to enhance dialysis efficiency—an insight with significant implications for wearable and implantable kidney systems.
Dr. Fokko Wieringa (Eindhoven University of Technology) made several scientific contributions throughout the conference and chaired multiple sessions, focusing on embedded sensing and physiological monitoring solutions to improve the safety and personalization of dialysis therapies.
Beyond our lab’s own contributions, ESAO 2025 was a remarkable gathering of global perspectives. A highlight for the kidney field was the presence of Dr. Shuvo Roy (UCSF) and Dr. William Fissell (Vanderbilt University), who presented exciting developments from the U.S. on implantable and wearable artificial kidneys. Seeing their work in person was not only inspiring but also a reminder of how important international collaboration will be to move this field forward effectively and equitably.
Our presence at ESAO 2025 was made possible through the support of KIDNEW, the NXTGEN Hightech programme, and the Dutch Research Council (NWO). These initiatives enable our team to bring together expertise across clinical nephrology, membrane science, microfluidics, and systems engineering to tackle one of medicine’s most urgent challenges.
We leave Enschede with new connections, shared insights, and a strengthened commitment to the future of kidney replacement therapy. Many thanks to the ESAO organisers and the University of Twente for hosting an outstanding conference. We look forward to continuing the conversation at ESAO 2026.