Ashish Nimgaonkar says his invention will save the U.S. health system millions of dollars. But better than that, he says, it will make life better for many patients as they await liver transplants. Nimgaonkar and his lab team are testing a mechanical pump in animals that uses natural body movement to eliminate fluid buildup in the abdomen.

Patients with decreased liver function often develop a condition called ascites, where fluid collects in the abdomen (peritoneal cavity). Water leaks out of blood vessels and into the area with nowhere to go and no way to move, causing uncomfortable abdominal swelling and distension.

“Until the patient gets a liver transplant, the only way to alleviate the pressure has been to drain the fluid manually every week or two,” says Nimgaonkar, a gastroenterologist and medical technology researcher. “That can cost between $2,000 and $3,000, and the fluid buildup significantly impairs the patient’s quality of life.”

Motion from normal daily activities triggers the pump to send fluid from the abdomen to the bladder. “Body movement creates a pressure differential between the cavity with the fluid in it and the bladder or stomach. The pump senses the difference in pressure and drives the fluid from one chamber to the other.”

After the pump moves fluid out of the cavity, patients would eliminate it naturally.

Nimgaonkar is currently testing the surgically implanted pump in animal models and, if all goes well, the innovation will move to clinical trials within a few years. For people with ascites, the pump could be a life-changer. “Best of all,” says Nimgaonkar, “these patients don’t have to get so sick.”