Simultaneous assessment system of sticking to blood vessel and recirculation rate

Abstract

One major cause of blood-removal failure is the occurrence of sticking to the blood vessel by the blood removal port of the tip of a double-lumen catheter (DLC), and various DLC modifications have been proposed for its prevention. We have performed experimental assessments of the effects of various DLC design parameters to prevent an indwelling DLC sticking to simulated biological blood vessels formed from porcine inferior vena cava, as indicated by changes in blood removal pressure. However, variability among individuals in vena cava internal diameter (ID) and vascular wall thickness impedes reproducibility. In the present study, we therefore constructed an assessment system with TOUGHSiLON Gel artificial blood vessels for high reproducibility of the occurrence of sticking to blood vessel and used it to compare the performance of four different commercial DLCs.