A New Medical

A mechanical kidney, twice as efficient as the human body is in ridding the blood of wastes and poisons, has been perfected for use at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital under the direction of Dr. John P. Merrill '38. Working with two other doctors and an engineer, Dr. Merrill succeeded in constructing the mechanical kidney, which has been used on more than 265 patients in the last four years.

This spare kidney is designed to eliminate waste from the blood while the kidneys rest and are restored to a healthy condition. The blood is drawn from an artery in the patient's arm and pumped through 128 feet of clear plastic tubing, wound around a revolving drum, half submerged in a tank containing a warm bath of salt and sugar solution. The entire body blood content goes through the artificial kidney on an average of every 35 minutes. In seven hours, the blood may circulate as many as twelve times through the substitute device.

It has proved so safe that it is used almost routinely in some cases of kidney trouble. Although Dr. Merrill states that the invention is not a cure-all for chronic kidney disease or failure, it works so well in cases of acute or sudden kidney breakdown that it has already been credited with the saving of many lives. It is also effective in improving some patients' general condition before operation.

While at Dartmouth Dr. Merrill was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He graduated from Harvard Medical School in 194 a and after service as medical officer in the U. S. Army Air Force he joined the staff of the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, where he is now an Associate in Medicine. He is also an instructor in the Harvard Medical School. He was the recipient of a research award from the American Heart Association, as his specialty is of value in alleviating many cases of acute heart disease, where the kidney condition is a factor.