Abstract
The impulse response method is applied to evaluate the performance of hemodialysers. This method gives various informations about the inner state of dialysers, which can not be obtained by ordinary steady state measurements. These informations make possible to evaluate the elements determining the dialysis efficacy, such as blood and dialysate flows, and dialysis membranes. Successive measurements in vivo are also possible by using an appropriate tracer.
In this paper, several kinds of hollow fiber and Kiil type dialysers are tested preliminarily in vitro, and hollow fiber type dialysers are tested in vivo. Degrees of stagnancy in blood and dialysate flows are evaluated by the impulse response data. It is shown by the response data in vivo that the time dependent lowering of the dialysis efficacy relates primarily to the blood compatibility in the blood inlet region of the dialysis membranes.
