Our world is facing unprecedented technological development, which affects all the sectors of society. The 4th industrial revolution has brought numerous advances that are currently integrated in our daily life, including artificial intelligence (A.I.), internet of things (IoT), genetic engineering, 3D-printing and robotics. The health care sector is one of the most impacted by these technologies of the so-called digital era. From the simple advent of medical records to robotic surgery, health care has significantly changed from the XX to XXI century and is constantly changing, incorporating novel technologies. Nephrology is itself an innovative branch of medicine, created as a discipline in the 1960s, with breakthrough inventions, such as the dialysis machine, which made it possible to prolong life of those who suffer from chronic kidney disease; kidney transplant, with point-of-care immunosuppression that favours maintenance of kidney allografts for long years; kidney biopsy, which made it possible to discover the mysteries of glomerulonephritis and nephropathology. Novel technologies, such as A.I., IoT, robotics, stem cells, 3D-printing, mHealth, eHealth and several others are starting to be applied in nephrology, with promising results. It is possible that a great part of these technologies will become routinely available in clinical practice, and the burden of kidney diseases will significantly decrease once prevention, prediction, detection, monitoring and treatment of kidney diseases are more precise, with patients taking part in the process and becoming more and more connected. This book gathers essential information on the technologies that have been applied in nephrology and that can be applied in the future, with real possibilities of improving the care of kidney diseases. At first glance, this work is directed to the entire nephrology community and all the healthcare professionals that deal with kidney diseases. Researchers from different fields, not directly linked to nephrology, may also be interested in the book since many of the topics presented are related to other areas and serve as examples of their uses in medicine, such as artificial intelligence, robotics, and big data. Finally, the content provides an important resource to medical students, discussing technologies that will certainly be integrated in their professional practice.

Recognize market opportunities, master the design process, and develop business acumen with this 'how-to' guide to medical technology innovation. Outlining a systematic, proven approach for innovation - identify, invent, implement - and integrating medical, engineering, and business challenges with real-world case studies, this book provides a practical guide for students and professionals.

This book covers all key aspects of critical care in pediatric nephrology, including acute dialysis in sick children. It also provides detailed protocols for managing fluid and electrolyte balance and dialysis in children in intensive care. In addition, this quick guide discusses innovations in pediatric renal replacement therapy technologies, such as plasma exchange, CARPEDIEM, NIDUS and aquadex. This is a go-to book for intensivists, physicians and trainees working in pediatric intensive care units.

Nephrology is one of the fastest growing specialties in medicine. Nevertheless, kidney disease is one of the most serious unmet health needs in many countries. To provide healthcare access with the desirable equity worldwide, the nephrology community needs to discuss this public health issue and take part in decisions for elaboration of public health policies with more justice and equity. This book brings together key current public health problems that affect kidney function and illuminates them in contributions by an international group of nephrologists and general practitioners. The chapters review current knowledge and provide guidelines to manage these conditions and decrease the disease burden. At the end, developments in the digital era and their application to kidney disease treatment are synthesized, and a broader outlook on the future of nephrology is given. Ultimately, the publication aims to gather nephrology and public health expertise from researchers from all over the world, providing a broad vision of issues that must be discussed and overcome to guarantee a better treatment for patients with kidney diseases in the world today.

Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy provides concise, evidence-based, bedside guidance for the management of critically ill patients with acute renal failure, offering quick reference answers to clinicians' questions about treatments and situations encountered in daily practice.

Despite constant significant advances, cardiovascular as well as more general outcomes of hemodialysis treatment remain unsatisfactory. The introduction of innovative 'high retention onset' membranes has led to the development of a new treatment modality called 'expanded hemodialysis' (HDx), which is the focus of this book. This new therapy is likely to benefit end-stage kidney disease patients, thanks to enhanced removal of molecules retained by current dialysis techniques. HDx is simple to set up and application does not require special hardware or specific nursing skills. This book contains emerging evidence and fascinating new hypotheses on HDx. It is highly recommended for all physicians and healthcare professionals who are caring for dialysis patients and are seeking innovation and improved care solutions. It will also be of considerable interest to students and fellows.

Telemedicine and remote patient monitoring are innovative tools to provide remote transmission, interpretation, and storage of data for review by the care team. These tools allow for accurate home monitoring of patients enabling the team to improve care through prevention and early identification of problems. This book is structured into four main parts. The first describes the evolution of peritoneal dialysis and related technology. The second part summarizes current unmet clinical needs reported by patients and care teams, the need for innovation in the field, and the technical and clinical issues involved with the modern management of peritoneal dialysis. The third section presents the operational characteristics of the new information communication technology system and, in detail, the features of the Sharesource platform. Finally, a series of field experiences by expert users are reported to describe the benefits and the potential applications of remote patient monitoring in the future. Telemedicine and remote patient monitoring have proven to be useful in the care of patients on peritoneal dialysis. The scope of this publication, therefore, is to present the experiences of clinical key opinion leaders who have been using the application.

This book analyses the latest advancements in the very important topic of vascular access in haemodialysis patients. Dialysis patients are a continuously growing population all over the world. Long-lasting and well-functioning vascular access is a life-line for these patients. Therefore, successful creation and appropriate management of vascular access is of the utmost importance. This book comprehensively reviews the different and most important issues related to vascular access management. It has 33 chapters discussing a wide variety of the most important topics including: principles of access creation in adults, paediatric and geriatric populations; types of anaesthesia; central venous catheters; early cannulation and hybrid vascular grafts; possible complications and principles of their management; quality of life in dialysis patients; etc. It consists of a review as well as original articles pertaining to the subject matter. The book also describes rare forms of arterio-venous accesses, last resort dialysis accesses, and life-saving approaches for the most challenging patients. All of the authors are experts in the field. They represent 16 different countries across the world, making this book especially unique. The chapters are well-illustrated, making them easy to read. We hope that this book will offer the most contemporary and useful information for specialists involved in haemodialysis therapy.

This book provides a complete guide to the evaluation, care, and follow-up of living kidney donors. Living donor kidney transplantation is established as the best treatment option for kidney failure. However, despite the tremendous benefits of living donation to recipients and society, the outcomes and optimal care of donors themselves have received relatively less attention. Fortunately, things are changing – including recent landmark developments in living donor risk assessment, policy and guidance. This volume offers authoritative, evidence-based guidance on the full range of clinical scenarios encountered in the evaluation and care of living kidney donors. The approach to key elements of risk assessment, ethical considerations and informed consent is accompanied by recommendations for patient-centered care before, during, and after donation. Advocacy initiatives and policies to remove disincentives to donation and advance a defensible system of practice are also discussed. General and transplant nephrologists, as well as related allied health professionals, can look to this book as a comprehensive resource addressing contemporary clinical topics in the practice of living kidney donation.

The leading Textbook on the subject. A completely rewritten and up-to-date fifth edition, based upon the highly respected fourth edition, edited by C. Jacobs, C.M. Kjellstrand, K.M. Koch and J.F. Winchester. This new edition is truly global in scope and features the contributions of the top experts from around the world.