Innovative dialysis system awarded $2.2 million

New South Wales Minister for Health and Medical Research The Hon Brad Hazzard has announced Ellen Medical Devices, the developer of The George Institute’s affordable dialysis system, as a recipient of a grant from the 2018 NSW Medical Devices Fund.

The affordable dialysis system has the potential to save millions of lives as an innovative and affordable device which costs under $1,000 to build and $5 a day to run, improving access to the life-saving treatment for vulnerable populations.

Office for Health and Medical Research Executive Director Dr Antonio Penna said: “Dialysis can cost up to $100,000 per patient each year in Australia and up to seven million people die annually in developing countries because it is too expensive.”

The inventor of the affordable dialysis system, Vincent Garvey said: “It’s been a privilege working with the team at The George Institute. This support from the NSW Government now brings us a significant step closer to ultimately treating patients.”

Kidney specialist and researcher at The George Institute for Global Health, Professor John Knight said: “With this generous support from the NSW Health Medical Devices Fund we will now be able to run clinical trials of our new affordable dialysis system  here in Sydney in 2019.

“Our system is simpler, lighter, more portable, and much much cheaper than any other form of dialysis in the world today.

“Vincent Garvey’s remarkable invention is a breakthrough for kidney patients everywhere, all over the world.”

Read more about the NSW Medical Devices Fund.