Filipino Students Innovate Affordable Medical Devices for Dialysis and Stroke Rehabilitation

Sep 18, 2026

72 min

Sep 18, 2026 08:31

Filipino students develop low-cost machines for dialysis, stroke patients

## Award-Winning Innovations

Two teams of engineering students from the University of the Philippines Diliman have developed innovative, low-cost medical devices that have won top honors in the 2026 James Dyson Award. Their projects aim to make essential medical treatments more accessible and affordable.

## BiDaKidney: Affordable Dialysis

The "BiDaKidney" device, created by Andrew Jacob Buensalido and Allyson Cabrestante, is a semi-automated peritoneal dialysis machine. It is designed to work with existing manual PD sets, offering a cost-effective alternative to expensive commercial cyclers. The device aims to reduce the financial burden on patients by costing around $100, a fraction of the typical $10,000 price tag for automated machines.

## OrthoFlex: Stroke Rehabilitation

The "OrthoFlex" project, developed by Jabez Bote and Ada Koreen Bacay, is a motor-driven elbow exoskeleton designed to assist stroke patients with arm rehabilitation. It provides repetitive exercises crucial for recovery, especially for those unable to afford regular therapy sessions. The device is priced at approximately ₱10,000, significantly lower than similar products on the market.

## Future Prospects

Both projects are still in the prototype stage and require further development and testing before they can be commercially available. The teams plan to enhance their designs for broader patient use and scalable manufacturing.

## International Recognition

These projects will now compete on the international stage of the James Dyson Award, which seeks to recognize innovative engineering solutions to real-world problems. The global winners will be announced in November 2026.

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