CONTINUOUS MONITORING OF CIRCULATING BLOOD VOLUME AND BLOOD UREA NITROGEN (BUN) DURING HUMAN HEMODIALYSIS

Abstract

A New device to monitor BUN and hematocrit simultaneously and continuously is reported. The BUN monitor consists of a urease-active chamber and ammonia gas electrode connected serially. The urease-active chamber is packed with about 70μl of cellulose gel, ‘Formil-cellulofine’, with 500μm of diameter and attached with urease. The hematocrit is also continuously monitored as an index of circulating blood volume. With this device, both BUN and hematocrit of a patient were monitored in the whole dialysis duration, the method should be of great helpful for analyzing so-called “disequilibrium syndrome”, and for developing safer acute dialysis.