Sponsored Insight
Digital technologies are making it easier for patients and care givers to manage many chronic health conditions which require ongoing monitoring. Due to lack of innovation, however, chronic kidney disease (CKD) has been an exception to this trend – that is, until now. Health Logic Interactive Inc. [TSXV:CHIP.H] [OTC:CHYPF] is developing a novel point of care lab-on-chip digital diagnostic device to measure and assess markers of kidney damage and kidney function. The device being developed by Health Logic Interactive is a next generation microfluidic lab-on-chip platform that has promising data and the potential to be used at point-of-care — in the doctor’s office or at home — to accurately measure albuminuria and estimated GFR.
Why is monitoring so important in chronic kidney disease? Read on to learn more:
What is chronic kidney disease or CKD?
Kidneys are critical to health, filtering out waste products, balancing fluids and electrolytes, and regulating blood pressure. In CKD, the damaged kidneys slowly lose these abilities and in time can fail completely. As a result, toxins and fluids accumulate, harming health.
CKD is common, costly, and harmful
In the United States, 37 million people have chronic kidney disease; most, as many as 9 in 10 adults with CKD, do not know they have it. The most common causes of CKD are diabetes and high blood pressure, yet less than half of patients with these conditions are tested for CKD. Without treatment, CKD can lead to kidney failure requiring dialysis treatments, heart disease, stroke, and death.
Early detection of CKD is crucial
If CKD is diagnosed early, it can be effectively treated, preventing dialysis, heart disease, and death. CKD is best detected using a combination of urine and blood tests. The amount of a protein called albumin appearing in the urine, measured as the albumin to creatine ratio, and the estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR), calculated by measuring the compound creatinine in the blood, are used in combination to diagnose, stage, and predict the trajectory of CKD. Traditionally, these tests are performed in a lab, and albuminuria testing is routinely missed. This cumbersome process leads to missing data, and makes diagnosis, staging, and risk prediction of CKD inaccurate. As a result, millions of people are not diagnosed, and so are not given treatment until it is too late. That’s why scientists are working to create new technologies that can be used at the doctor’s office or in the home to accurately measure urine albumin and eGFR.
Lab-on-chip technology to manage CKD: Affordable, accessible, accurate
The outdated system of needing repeated visits to a central lab is a major inconvenience for patients and a major barrier to timely testing and diagnosis of CKD. Thanks to recent advances in technology and computation, we can now perform entire diagnostic experiments on a small device — a lab-on-chip — in a few minutes. This patented new technology replaces the central lab with a powerful, portable, and affordable medical device that brings the lab to the patient, wherever they are: in a doctor’s office, a pharmacy, or even at home. By providing quantitative measurement of ACR + GFR in a single device in a point-of-care setting, Health Logic Interactive is positively changing the dynamics of Chronic Kidney Disease patient management.
Health Logic’s lab-on-chip is the future of CKD management
Health Logic’s portable, affordable handheld devices will provide precise measurement of urine albumin to creatinine (MATLOC 1, available 2022) and eGFR (MATLOC 2, available 2023). The company’s eGFR chip will use a superior biomarker, which is more accurate than other markers, and up to now, was available in only a few cutting-edge labs. These devices will help bridge the testing gap for CKD, bringing access to comprehensive CKD risk assessment to millions of patients, improving diagnosis and treatment, and bending the cost curve for kidney care.
Learn more about what Health Logic is doing with CKD here.