Researchers presented an ongoing proof of concept study in Hemodialysis International for an exciting new app to monitor CKD patients’ GFR values—CKD Express App ©—at the Annual Dialysis Conference from February 8-11, 2020, in Kansas City, Missouri.*

Background information

Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is a blood test used to check kidney function by measuring the amount of creatinine present. For a healthy kidney, the GFR value is 90 or higher, while a value between 60-89 means the patient has mildly decreased function.

Roughly 20 million people in the USA with a GFR lower than 60 are considered to be chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. In order to receive the best possible care, patients are recommended to visit a nephrologist to monitor their GFR value. A CKD patient that maintains a stable GFR is called a non-progressor.

Research and investigation details

While under the University of Wisconsin Consortium and completing their MBAs at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, four students “proposed the development of an IT-based system called the CKD Express © to enable a better, more efficient, more effective and cost-saving CKD care model,” according to the original study in The Open Medical Informatics Journal in 2012. In sum, this system uses a new method to monitor GFR data.**

One of the aims of this original investigation was to estimate whether nephrology care for CKD patients is cost-effective. Over 15 years of analysis on thousands of patients’ GFR data, researchers found that for non-progressors specifically, frequent visits to a nephrologist to check one’s GFR value are expensive and an example of wasteful care.

To treat the data, researchers used artificial intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and Deep Learning (DL) methods. This new method’s purpose is to track, monitor, and analyze GFR data, as well as direct correct feedback and instruction to both patients and their healthcare providers, respectively, in order to improve patient care.

At present, the new proof of concept study is being one of the original study’s authors, Macaulay Onuigbo, now at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington, Vermont, and Nneoma Agbasi at the North East London NHS Foundation Trust in Basildon, Essex (U.K.). They are testing an app, called the CKD Express App ©, to monitor GFR data. The goal of the app is to demonstrate accuracy in tracking, monitoring, and analyzing the data in order to appropriately direct feedback and instructions to patients and providers.

Results and conclusions

Onuigbo and Agbasi believe the CKD Express App © will be revolutionary for CKD care and health management for both patients and providers, as it proves to be a more convenient and cost-effective solution for monitoring patients’ GFR value. Moreover, the app will assist third-party organizations, like the National Health Service (NHS) in the U.K. and Medicare in the U.S., in order to improve care for CKD patients.

*Onuigbo, M. AC. & Agbasi, N. (2020, Feb.). “The CKD Express App©: A new innovative revolutionary disruptive CKD Health Management Paradigm.” Paper presented at the Annual Dialysis Conference, Kansas City, Missouri. Abstract retrieved from Hemodialysis International.

**Onuigbo, M. AC. (2012, Aug. 10). “CKD Express © – A New IT-Software Proposed for a Paradigm Change in CKD Care.” The Open Medical Informatics Journal.