Dialysis can be a hassle, albeit a lifesaving one for people with chronic kidney failure. So it beats the mortal alternative.

Just ask Eugene Carrieri, who resumed dialysis treatments in September after the transplanted kidney he had for three years ceased to function adequately.

But dialysis now can be less of a hassle with a portable system that a patient can use inside his or her home.

Mr. Carrieri, 64, of Whitehall, is the first person in the Pittsburgh region that DaVita At Home has furnished with an in-home NxStage dialysis system for daily use.

Daily dialysis improves health and lifestyle and saves time for those with renal failure who traditionally trekked three times a week to a dialysis service center for a four- or five-hour session to remove toxins from their blood.

"Doing it every day makes me feel better," Mr. Carrieri said. "But the biggest advantage is time."

DaVita At Home has provided in-home NxStage systems to 2,000 patients nationwide and recently entered the Pittsburgh market. Two area patients now have in-home units with two others in training.

The small user-friendly machines are equipped with alarms and safeguards, along with round-the-clock phone assistance and a toll-free number to help people safely cleanse their blood.

Patients and family members undergo weeks of training before they can use the unit on their own. With NxStage, a patient can complete dialysis in 2¹/₂ to 3 hours a day.

Mike Brinko, DaVita business development specialist, said patients feel healthier by removing toxins daily from their blood. As a result, DaVita patients have resumed working, while one man once again can shovel snow from his driveway while another went hunting for the first time in seven years and bagged a doe.

Last month, Mr. Carrieri began using his NxStage system in his home with his wife's assistance.

The in-home system requires people willing and able to understand how the equipment operates.

"This is not for everybody because not everyone has enough confidence to do this," Mr. Brinko said.

As many as 500,000 people in the United States require dialysis, with that number projected to reach 1 million in coming years due to the rise in obesity. Blood pressure and diabetes are leading causes of renal failure.

With many dialysis centers filled, the in-home system provides not only an alternative, but improvements in care, Mr. Brinko said.

At dialysis service centers, people are hooked up to machines resembling Star Wars' R2-D2 that filter out toxins. The portable in-home NxStage system takes only 15 minutes to set up, and the entire process can be completed in under three hours.

Because NxStage works with less blood outside the body, the patient stands to lose less blood if a major problem occurs. But Mr. Brinko said no major problems have arisen for people currently using the systems.

People are far more likely to die from health problems related to their disease than mistakes or malfunctions in dialysis, according to Lisa Cercone, DaVita At Home program coordinator.

For safety, DaVita recommends that those using in-home systems have a partner to assist. So Mr. Carrieri's wife, Beth, also has been trained with NxStage to assist her husband.

Monitoring the machine involves watching numbers on a display and listening for alarms.

Undergoing practice sessions in the DaVita center in Elizabeth convinced Mr. Carrieri that the new process was simpler. "I'm pretty confident with it," he said.

Mr. Carrieri, who owns a Kirby vacuum cleaner franchise in Brentwood, traces his renal failure to an untreated strep-throat infection as a child and high blood pressure. As a businessman, the less time he spends attached to a dialysis machine, the better.

Because it's portable, the NxStage system allows patients to travel more easily. The machine can be taken in vehicles or on planes.

Those on dialysis must watch their diet and reduce fluid intake. Without functional kidneys, the body can produce no urine, so fluids build up in the body, often around the heart, and raise blood pressure and cause other health problems.

Ms. Cercone said Mr. Carrieri was an ideal candidate for in-home dialysis because he's disciplined and compliant.

He also restricts consumption of foods high in potassium and phosphorus, including colas, spaghetti sauce, chocolate, ice cream, nuts and cheese. "I pretty much eat what I want, but I know what to avoid," Mr. Carrieri said.

"The stuff he can't eat is the stuff you shouldn't eat anyway," Mrs. Carrieri said.

Each evening, he and his wife hook him up to the machine, then he passes the two hours on a computer, watching television or reading.

"It's something I've had to get used to," Mr. Carrieri said.

And it sure beats the alternatives.