Issues addressed by the project

Kidney Care UK estimates 40-45 000 premature deaths occur each year due to chronic kidney disease. The iTrend project (Intelligent Technologies for Renal Dialysis and Diagnostics) at the University of Derby is a multi-institutional initiative focused on improving outcomes for patients with end-stage renal disease (ESKD) undergoing dialysis. Issues addressed by the iTrend project are:

• Inadequate Monitoring During Dialysis: Traditional dialysis monitoring often fails to provide real-time, fine-grained insights into patient health dynamics, especially regarding blood pressure and cardiovascular stability. Fluctuations can lead to dangerous events, including intradialytic hypotension; a sudden drop in blood pressure-which is a major contributor to patient morbidity.
• Personalisation and Data Deficits: Standard care approaches do not adapt to individual patient needs, and the use of generic thresholds means that treatment might not be optimal for many dialysis patients. There’s a need for technologies that leverage patient-specific data to guide interventions during dialysis sessions.
• Integration and Interpretation of Complex Physiological Data: The large volume and complexity of physiological signals generated during dialysis are underutilised. Healthcare providers have limited capacity to interpret all this data in real time and convert it into actionable clinical decisions.

ITrend funding has been provided by the MStart Trust, and Kidney Research UK

Project leads: Professor Paul Stewart Professor of Control and Systems Engineering, PI, University of Derby; Professor Maarten Taal Professor of Medicine and Honorary Consultant Nephrologist, PI, University of Nottingham; Professor Nick Selby Professor of Nephrology, Co-I, University of Nottingham; Professor Jill Stewart Professor of Systems Modelling and Optimisation, Co-I, University of South Wales