Vividiffusion

"The physicians are now constructing a machine capable of doing the work necessitated by a volume of blood circulating the a body weighing up to 20 pounds and, inasmuch as they have determined to their own satisfaction that the procedure is not inimical to life, there is no reason why it should not be applied to human beings when the occasion arises"

This line is from a 1914 article that appeared in the New York Times describing the work of John Abel who experimented in dialyzing dogs at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. Cotton-based hoses, leech extracts for anticoagulation, glass tubes, salt, water, science and determination set the foundation for what would become a life-saving procedure.

Below see a video clip of the first recorded dialysis - performed on a dog in 1915 - a classic silent movie. The dog survived!

Posted by Kassem Safa, MD