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Review
. 2023 Jan 26;23(3):1361.
doi: 10.3390/s23031361.

Wearables in Nephrology: Fanciful Gadgetry or Prêt-à-Porter?

Madelena Stauss  1 , Htay Htay  2 , Jeroen P Kooman  3 , Thomas Lindsay  1 , Alexander Woywodt  1
Affiliations
Review

Wearables in Nephrology: Fanciful Gadgetry or Prêt-à-Porter?

Madelena Stauss et al. Sensors (Basel). .

Abstract

Telemedicine and digitalised healthcare have recently seen exponential growth, led, in part, by increasing efforts to improve patient flexibility and autonomy, as well as drivers from financial austerity and concerns over climate change. Nephrology is no exception, and daily innovations are underway to provide digitalised alternatives to current models of healthcare provision. Wearable technology already exists commercially, and advances in nanotechnology and miniaturisation mean interest is also garnering clinically. Here, we outline the current existing wearable technology pertaining to the diagnosis and monitoring of patients with a spectrum of kidney disease, give an overview of wearable dialysis technology, and explore wearables that do not yet exist but would be of great interest. Finally, we discuss challenges and potential pitfalls with utilising wearable technology and the factors associated with successful implementation.

Keywords: chronic kidney disease; dialysis; nephrology; telemedicine; transplantation; wearables.

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Conflict of interest statement

M.S., J.P.K. and T.L. have no conflict of interest to declare. H.H. has received personal fees and non-financial support from Baxter Healthcare and AWAK Technologies, and grants from Johnson & Johnson Company and Singhealth NIG. A.W. is the clinical lead in projects on smartphone-enabled urine dipstick testing with healthy.io (Tel Aviv, Israel) and point-of-care testing of creatinine and tacrolimus for renal transplant recipients with Spartan Bioscience Inc. (Nepean, ON, Canada). A.W. sits on the editorial board of Clinical Kidney Journal and BMC Nephrology and has received consulting fees from Adkins Consulting, Atheneum, Fieldscope, GKA, Medotus, Opinionsite and Rapidus.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Types and categories of wearable devices used for diagnosis and monitoring in chronic kidney disease.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The Automated Wearable Artificial Kidney (AWAK) peritoneal dialysis device.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Illustrative schematic of the AWAK wearable PD device.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Schematic of ideal components of a multifunctional wearable device.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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