There are easily close to a million people worldwide, waiting for kidney transplants; and the list grows each year … by 3 000 in the USA alone.

And while they wait, those with the weakest kidneys, are forced to undertake hours of life-savings dialysis several times a week.

Dialysis machines literally clean the blood of waste that damaged kidneys are unable to do.

This is where Vanderbilt University researcher Dr William Fissell enters the picture.

It’s been a few years now that he has been working on what some consider to be the holy grail of transplants – the artificial, or bionic kidney.

Small enough to comfortably fit inside the body cavity, but also be powerful enough to clean the blood of salt, water and other waste products, keeping the patient off dialysis, it will be powered by the patient’s heart.

The process actually involves kidney cells that are grown in a lab, making rejection improbable.

And William says they are pretty much there.

So that’s microchips that will live inside the body and be used as tiny filters.

Fluid dynamics, which is so essential to modern aviation – helps re-circulation and prevents clotting.