Abstract
Ideal blood access devices for hemodialysis should have a blood contact surface similar to vascular intima and a tissue contact surface similar to tissue and an air contact surface similar to skin if the access device is placed exterior to the body. If these conditions are met, it was thought that both standard type shunts and artificial fistulae, similar to the surgically created fistula, could be designed with the same approach.
Bovine mesentric arteries were chosen for the blood access device con-straction. Two general shemes of blood access devices were conceived: the sub-cutaneous (a modified Cimino-Brescia fistula) and the extracutaneous shunt. The results of preliminary study will be discussed in this report.
