The first historical description of this type of procedure was published in 1913. Abel, Rowntree and Turner “dialyzed” anesthetized animals by directing their blood outside the body and through tubes with semipermeable membranes. The membranes were made from Collodion, a material based on cellulose. It remains unclear if Abel and his colleagues originally intended to use the procedure, known as vividiffusion, to treat kidney failure or rather, as is sometimes believed, later adopted it for this use. Still, dialysis treatment today continues to use major elements of Abel’s vividiffusion machine.



Vividiffusion machine from Abel and colleagues, 1913


Hirudin was first identified in 1880 by the British physiologist Haycraft, and is the anticoagulant element in the saliva of leeches. Before Abel could route the animals’ blood through the “dialyzer”, the blood’s ability to clot or coagulate had to be at least temporarily restricted. Abel and his colleagues used a substance known as Hirudin.



Dr. Georg Haas performing dialysis on a patient at the University of Giessen


A German doctor by the name of Georg Haas, from the town of Giessen near Frankfurt am Main, performed the first dialysis treatments involving humans. It is believed that Haas dialyzed the first patients with kidney failure in the summer of 1924 after performing preparatory experiments. By 1928, Haas had dialyzed an additional six patients, none of which survived, likely because of the critical condition of the patients and the insufficient effectiveness of the dialysis treatment. The Haas Dialyzer, which also used a Collodion membrane, was built in a variety of models and sizes.

When and how much Haas learned about the efforts of the Abel research group has been discussed in great detail, but a precise answer to the question is not known. Haas most likely completed much of his preparatory experiments beginning in 1914, and without knowledge of Abel’s experiences because of the confusion surrounding the war. But following this interruption, he was likely informed of the efforts of the Abel team.

Haas, like Abel, also used Hirudin as the anticoagulant in his first dialysis. However, Hirudin often led to massive complications arising from allergic reactions since the substance was insufficiently purified and originated in a species very distant from humans. In the end, Haas used a substance known as Heparin in his seventh and final experiment. Heparin is the universal anticoagulant in mammals and was first isolated in dog livers by an American named MacLean, in 1916. This substance caused substantially fewer complications than Hirudin – even when it was insufficiently purified – and could be produced in much larger amounts. Heparin became – and remains – the anticoagulant of choice, with the development of better purification methods in 1937.