'Cardiff’ peritoneal dialysis machine, England, 1965-1970

'Cardiff' peritoneal dialysis machine, by Hawker Siddeley, England, 1965-1970, including four PJ996 batteries, 6v, with inscription 'for longer life!', 'Made in Britain', by Ever Ready, Great Britain, 1965-1970, a broken fragment of a perspex pane, and the original perspex pane.

When a person’s kidneys fail, waste products cannot be removed from the blood. Serious illness inevitably follows and dialysis is one way of treating the condition. This machine was used for peritoneal dialysis. Dialysis fluid was inserted into the membrane in the abdomen, known as the peritoneum, which then cleaned the waste products out when the fluid was removed. This was only a short term solution and if kidney failure was ongoing a transplant may have been needed.

The machine was made by Hawker Siddeley Dynamics Ltd and was donated to the Science Museum’s collections by Stobhill General Hospital, Glasgow, Scotland.