Dr Gupta, who heads the Nephorology Department at Dr BR Ambedkar Memorial Hospital here, has been invited to the conference, slated in September, to present his research work to over 250 top nephrologists from across the globe. The jacket, which operates on a battery weighing less the 10 kgs, could prove a boon for dialysis patients due to its compact size and unlimited portability.

Talking to TOI about his research work, Dr Gupta said he has been working on the project since 2012 with an aim to develop compressed dialysis equipment that is seamlessly portable. He said the design of the jacket is complete and is likely to be available in the market in a year or so.

Dr Gupta said patients have to usually visit hospitals two to three times a week for dialysis and have to be confined to the machine. However, the 'jacket' can be worn and used by the patients anywhere, avoiding their trips to the hospital.

He said he has submitted his work to ethical committee for animal trial and once it is approved it would be tested on human beings. "This jacket can significantly improve quality of life for patients", he said adding that while conventional dialysis require at least 230 litres of water per patient dialysis. The jacket merely uses one litre water and can be recycled too.

Claiming that the 'jacket' would be a cost effective alternative for kidney patients, Dr Gupta said while dialysis are free of cost in government hospitals, private hospital charges almost Rs 1600- 2300 per setting and Rs 1200 for disposable too. "Roughly a patient spends Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 on dialysis in private hospitals whereas the jacket, which is likely to cost Rs 50,000 commercially, would mean a onetime investment for a lifetime", he said.

Dr Gupta said there are about 10,000 patients in Chhattisgarh who require dialysis. However, there are only 80 machines are available in government hospitals, forcing 90% of patients to rely on private hospitals.

Dr Puneet said kidneys play a vital role in filtering waste products from the blood and regulating blood flow. They contain millions of filters called nephrons, which remove excess fluid and waste from the blood. This gets expelled from the body when we urinate. But when nephrons are damaged, the filtering system malfunctions and dangerous levels of fluid and waste products can accumulate. Dialysis is thus the only alternative available for such patients.

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