Nephros is a patient-shaped kidney health monitor created with nine people living with CKD to reduce the uncertainty between blood tests and add clear context that patients can trust. It offers simple at-home eGFR checks that complement, not replace, hospital testing and lets people choose how often and how deeply they engage. The co-design process kept every decision grounded in real needs, leading to a solution that feels feasible, useful, and genuinely meaningful.

One in ten people in the UK lives with chronic kidney disease (CKD), which is typically monitored through blood tests only a few times per year. This leaves patients uncertain about their health, waiting for results that arrive with little context and in difficult-to-understand lab terminology. Too often, CKD patients feel forgotten in an impersonal healthcare system that leaves them to manage their condition on their own.

This project responds by developing Nephros, an at-home kidney health monitor created collaboratively through a four-phase co-design study with nine individuals living with kidney disease.

Together, we explored their kidney journeys, defined key requirements and expectations, and developed ideas for how such a solution could look. After discussing two possible design directions in a focus group session, participants chose a portable and less obtrusive health hub, which I then developed further and validated technically. The key technical principle behind Nephros is a small patch worn throughout the day that collects the required sample fluid without causing pain, and which can then be inserted into the hub by an untrained user through a twist-and-squeeze mechanism.

Reflecting on the initial requirements discussed with patients and clinicians, the core of the design proposal is personal choice. Nephros leaves it to the user to decide how they want to experience the system, how often they want updates on their kidney health, and how the system engages with them. From quiet monthly check-ins to periods of closer watch when life or treatment changes. In short, Nephros is a patient-shaped kidney health monitor that aims to reduce uncertainty and return a sense of control to people living with kidney disease.