Portable renal dialysis machine, England, 1975-1980
- maker:
- Tecmed Limited



Portable renal dialysis machine, the "Portalysis 101", by Tecmed Ltd., England, 1975-1980, housed in a black suitcase
Waste products cannot be removed from the blood when a person’s kidneys fail. Serious illness inevitably follows. Dialysis is one way to treat the condition. When these machines were first introduced just after the Second World War, they were bulky and for hospital use only. This machine was used for renal dialysis. It is designed for use at home or on holiday. Such flexibility allowed patients a level of independence. The machine could be used away from hospital for up to 14 days. The machine mimics the functions of the kidney. It works by filtering the blood. The suitcase contains two separate hydraulic circuits. One is for dialysis preparation from clean tap water. The other controls the flow of prepared dialysis fluid and blood through the machine. The machine is called the ‘Portalysis 101’. It was made by Tecmed Ltd. Derriford Hospital donated it to the Science Museum’s collections.
Details
- Category:
- Therapeutics
- Object Number:
- 1986-1572
- type:
- kidney dialysis machine
- credit:
- Derriford Hospital
Cite this page
Rights
We encourage the use and reuse of our collection data.
Data in the title, made, maker and details fields are released under Creative Commons Zero
Descriptions and all other text content are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence
Download
Download catalogue entry as json
View manifest in IIIF viewer
Add to Animal Crossing Art Generator
Download manifest IIIF
Our records are constantly being enhanced and improved, but please note that we cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information shown on this website.