Prosthetic kidney and its use for treating kidney disease

摘要

The invention is directed to a prosthetic kidney, to methods of making a prosthetic kidney and to methods of treating kidney disease with a prosthetic kidney. The prosthetic kidney comprises nephron analogs on the exterior surface and an enclosed porous membrane structure equipped with an effluent channel for collecting and draining urine from the device. The nephron analogs are prepared by implanting a device containing renal tubule analogs on the membrane structures and inducing angiogenesis to form glomeruli-like structures. The renal tubule analogs are prepared by seeding kidney cells on the porous membrane structure and culturing this composite in vitro.