Peritoneal dialysis (PD) utilizes the peritoneum as natural filter to cleanse the blood of waste products.

A soft tube, or catheter, is surgically inserted into the abdominal wall to facilitate this process.

The catheter remains permanently in place.

Hemodialysis is a procedure that purifies the blood by passing it through a filter known as an "artificial kidney" or dialyzer.

Dialysis is a filtration process. In 1961, Thomas Graham discovered that a parchment membrane immersed in water allowed salts to pass through while retaining proteins.