Kuala lumpur: For thousands of Malaysians living with kidney failure, dialysis is not merely a treatment. It is a demanding routine that shapes their time, mobility, family life, and sense of independence.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the scale of the challenge is growing. Globally, chronic kidney disease was the ninth leading cause of death in 2023, accounting for about 1.48 million deaths. In Malaysia, studies have estimated that chronic kidney disease affects about 15.48 percent of the population, with around 50,000 patients undergoing dialysis treatment nationwide. These numbers point to a reality that is both medical and technological. Kidney treatment will continue to need better clinical services, but it will also need smarter technologies that can support patients, clinicians, and healthcare systems in the long term.
Around the world, researchers are exploring portable, wearable, implantable, and bioartificial approaches that could one day support more patient-centered kidney treatment. For Malaysia, the question is whether it will remain mainly a user of imported renal technologies or build its own capability to contribute to this emerging field. One important effort is taking shape at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia through the Institute of Microengineering and Nanoelectronics (IMEN). Recognised by the Ministry of Higher Education in 2014 as a Higher Institution Centre of Excellence in MEMS in Biomedical, with a specific focus on Artificial Kidney, IMEN has spent more than a decade building capability in micro and nanoscale biomedical technologies.
What began as early work in artificial kidney-related research, including nano layer membrane filter technology for dialysis applications, has evolved into a broader MEMS-based biomedical platform. It brings together microfluidics, filtration, sensing, cell manipulation, peritoneal dialysis-related systems, and self-powered technologies. The aim is not to claim that Malaysia already has a finished artificial kidney device, but to build the MEMS-based technology platform that future artificial kidney and kidney treatment technologies will require.
At IMEN, the artificial kidney research direction is supported by six key technology pillars: MEMS microfluidics, MEMS filters, MEMS cell manipulation, peritoneal dialysis-related platforms, sensors, and self-powered systems. These are not separate research themes. They form an integrated engineering chain, from fluid handling and filtration to sensing, biological processing, and autonomous device operation. In simple terms, the contribution is not only in imagining an artificial kidney but in developing the enabling MEMS technologies that such a system would require.
Biomedical technology does not move from laboratory to patient in a single leap. The next stage will therefore focus on prototype integration, laboratory validation, clinical input, intellectual property strengthening, and partnerships with industry and international research groups. Locally, the work is supported by nephrology expertise from UKM's Faculty of Medicine and Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz. Such clinical input is essential to ensure that engineering innovation remains connected to real patient needs and practical healthcare realities.
Internationally, IMEN is strengthening scientific linkages and reference points with leading experts and institutions in the artificial kidney field, including groups associated with The Kidney Project at the University of California, San Francisco, European work linked to IMEC and Holst Centre in the Netherlands, and related research developments at the National Research University of Electronic Technology, MIET, in Russia. These linkages support benchmarking, technical guidance, and validation pathways, while helping position Malaysia within the global artificial kidney research ecosystem.
After more than a decade of building its foundation, Malaysia's artificial kidney research capability is ready to enter a new phase. The next frontier in artificial kidney research will not be built by importing technology alone. It will require patient-centered science, engineering depth, clinical validation, industry participation, and sustained national investment. The MEMS-based platform being developed at IMEN offers one credible pathway forward, connecting microchips to artificial kidney research and Malaysian science to future patient benefit.