Haemodialysis articles from across Nature Portfolio

Haemodialyser technology has not advanced much in decades, despite its unresolved shortcomings. Sophisticated new computational tools such as high-fidelity surrogate in silico dialyser models could reduce the time and expense of exploring alternative designs, dialysis dose and operating conditions compared with the current gold standard in vitro studies.

Many countries worldwide, particularly those with low or lower-middle incomes, do not have enough nephrologists to provide health services for patients with kidney disease. Increasing training opportunities, improving job satisfaction and using new technologies and advances in artificial intelligence could help to increase the nephrology workforce and improve patient outcomes.

First Nations peoples in Australia face systemic inequities in access to kidney transplantation. The National Indigenous Kidney Transplant Taskforce was established to address these. It has provided support to clinicians to implement and evaluate innovative practices and developed strategies to address biases in the structures and models of care that create barriers to wait-listing.

Among global destabilizing events, natural disasters often receive widespread attention whereas protracted conflicts and economic crises fade into the background. Low- and middle-income countries bear the brunt of this indifference, resulting in severely weakened health systems. People who require dialysis are particularly vulnerable, necessitating urgent collaboration to ensure equitable and sustainable care during such crises.

Considerable research and investment have focused on the use of electronic patient-reported outcomes (ePROs) in nephrology. However, systematic collection of ePROs to inform the care of patients with chronic kidney disease remains sporadic. A change in culture is needed to encourage their wider adoption in clinical practice.