Medtronic Advances Solutions and Care for Kidney Patients

By: Jennifer Cramer-Miller

Minnesota Medtronic employees regularly partner with the National Kidney Foundation to support kidney patients. This includes their June participation in the NKF’s Drive for Dialysis program, a hands-on, staff-engagement opportunity to organize and assemble dialysis care packages and hear from a patient on dialysis.

“The Drive for Dialysis event was an amazing opportunity to spread awareness of ESKD (end stage kidney disease) within our business while also showcasing Medtronic’s commitment to the dialysis community,” said Jessie Hull, Medtronic’s Senior Group AV Access Global Marketing Manager. “The event allowed us to show our appreciation to healthcare professionals that keep our dialysis patients healthy and give back to patients who are directly impacted by this disease.”

Beyond Drive for Dialysis, Medtronic, a global medical device company, demonstrates a long-standing commitment to improving kidney patients’ lives. The need and numbers are staggering. Today, kidney disease is a global health challenge. 700 million people worldwide have chronic kidney disease (CKD), and two million require dialysis or transplantation to survive.

These statistics underscore the significant demand for products that improve the transition to dialysis for ESKD patients. Medtronic’s product, the Ellipsys™ Vascular Access System, does just that.

Dialysis is a life-saving procedure that filters a patient’s blood after kidney failure. Hemodialysis kidney patients typically receive treatments at an outpatient clinic or at home, between three to five times a week. Treatments times vary by patient, from two to five hours each time.

Before a dialysis treatment begins, a nurse or technician places two large needles into a patient’s artery and vein. The arterial needle delivers the blood to the machine’s cleaning filter. The venous needle returns the filtered blood to the patient. A typical vein cannot accommodate the high pressure and blood flow required by the machine. So, a surgical procedure creates an access to make dialysis possible.

Traditionally, a vascular surgeon enlarges the vein by connecting the blood flow between an artery and vein. Called an AV fistula, this surgical artery/vein connection has been the gold standard in dialysis access for over fifty years. The new Ellipsys™ Vascular Access System simplifies this dialysis access procedure for patients.

The innovation Medtronic has brought to this space through the Ellipsis product, is not only non-surgical and minimally invasive, leaving no stiches or scars, but it also allows for a faster timeline for maturity as compared to the traditional procedure. Equally important, it has also been proven to last longer and lessen pressure on kidney patients’ blood vessels and heart. These benefits of Medtronic’s Ellipsys™ Vascular Access System stem from years of research and innovative product development. The benefits from Medtronic’s Drive for Dialysis participation, however, are seen by the Medtronic staff immediately.

To sum up Medtronic’s Drive for Dialysis experience, Jessie Hull said, “Hand delivering boxes of kits to a local dialysis center allowed us to see first-hand the impact something so small can have on a community that is so much in need. We are grateful to NKF for partnering with us on this opportunity!”

Whether it be Drive for Dialysis kit deliveries or product innovations, either way, Medtronic’s impact on the kidney community is meaningful. Together, Medtronic and the National Kidney Foundation will continue to improve the lives of those who live with kidney disease.