Young children with kidney failure can now be treated at home or on holiday thanks to a new state of the art dialysis machine piloted by a Nottingham hospital.

Portable dialysis units developed by Baxter Healthcare enable families to download a child's prescription onto a computer and link up with doctors on the phone.

The new technology has been used to treat adults, but was not previously suitable for children because of the precise nature of the treatment they require.

But after successful trials at Nottingham City Hospital, younger kidney patients will now be able to take foreign holidays and live a relatively normal life.

First in Europe

The units allow treatment to be administered while patients sleep and doctors can monitor them by linking to a modem in the dialysis machine.

This means that the child's normal daily routine is not affected and that treatment can be administered anywhere.

Saheed Rashid, from Baxter, said: "I hope this new innovation will not only help ease some of the burden on parents, but also help the children enjoy the pleasures of being children."

Two patients have been treated in the Nottingham trials.

These are the first children in Europe to benefit from the breakthrough.

Dr Alan Watson, children's kidney specialist at the City Hospital, said: "The system is clinically effective and easy for parents to use."

However, he also said that while the new technology is a bonus, a transplant is the preferred option for giving those with kidney failure as normal a life as possible.