Willem Johan Kolff

When kidneys fail, toxins build up in the blood, and life quickly hangs in the balance.

In the 1940s, Dutch physician Willem Kolf built the first dialysis machine, cobbled together with sausage casings, a washing machine drum, and other improvised parts.

This device filtered waste from the blood, mimicking kidney function.

Over time, dialysis became a refined treatment, keeping patients alive for years, sometimes decades.