Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night will stop U.S. Postal Service employee Angela Bunch. Nor will kidney dialysis.

That's because Bunch now controls her own treatment with a suitcase-sizedevice being tested at Indiana University Hospital and eightother sites nationally. Researchers began evaluating the NxStageSystem One a little over one year ago. The unit allows patientsto conduct dialysis in the clinic, at home, or on the road.

Nationwide, about 100 patients with kidney failure are testingSystem One, a third of whom are being treated at IU Hospital,a member of Clarian Health Partners. The focus of the currentstudy is to determine how well the system works for home use,and the preliminary results are promising, according to the study'sprincipal investigator.

“We usually see the health benefits within a week of a patientbeginning this therapy,” says nephrologist Michael A. Kraus,associate professor and medical director of the IU ContinuousAmbulatory Peritoneal Dialysis and Acute Dialysis Units. “Onthe whole, patients have reduced or completely stopped usingmedications to control their blood pressure, their anemia rateshave declined, and their appetites have increased.”

There are two kinds of dialysis available to the 400,000 Americanswith kidney failure--peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis. Hemodialysis,which separates toxins and excess from the patient's blood, isthe most common. This therapy usually takes place in clinicsor hospitals, where patients undergo four-hour treatments threetimes a week tethered to massive units requiring vast amountsof electricity and water. While effective, sessions leave patientsphysically exhausted and emotionally drained.

The NxStage System One delivers hemodialysis. The system iscompact and weighs about 70 pounds. Because of its freedom fromunique electrical requirements and water processing, the systemis portable and can be used not only in a person's home but alsowhen traveling. With the system, patients conduct dialysis (sixtimes a week for up to 2 ½ hours) to accommodate theirschedules. Patients at IU have performed dialysis in their homes,campers, hotel rooms, and other locations.

“Before I started using this device, I would leave work in themorning, come to the clinic for conventional treatment, go homeand rest, then crawl into work that night,” says Bunch, an Indianapolisresident, who has been on dialysis since 2001. “No pep or get-up-and-goto me whatsoever. Now my energy level is higher.”

Whatever health benefits it affords, the NxStage technologymeans freedom – and freedom translates into a better qualityof life.

“We have had mothers who didn't have the energy to take careof their kids, people who had resigned that they would neverbe able to work or have a career or travel anywhere – but nowtheir situations have reversed, and they have control over theirlives,” says Kraus.

For more information about the IU daily dialysis program, call317-274-4428. More information about NxStage can be found at www.nxstage.com .