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For the first time, doctors at University Hospital in Coventry used the new technique to filter out the antibodies from Maxine Bath's blood, allowing her sister, Michelle Titmus, to donate one of her kidneys.
Maxine’s blood pressure was so low because of years of kidney failure that parts of her body were being starved of oxygen.
Her eyes had already been damaged and doctors feared her brain could be next.
Only a transplant could save her.
Existing techniques remove antibodies from the blood using a filter with microscopic holes. But that would have reduced Maxine's blood pressure still further, with possible lethal results.
So the doctors separated the watery plasma that contains all the antibodies from Maxine's blood.
They then pumped the plasma through a long tube which was surrounded by icy water.
This caused the antibodies to clump together, so they could be trapped by a filter with much larger holes, allowing the rest of the plasma through unhindered.
Maxine is recovering well and regained her appetite.
"She's eating like a horse, I'm the one that's made her put loads of weight on," sister Michelle said.
