Dialysate delivery: historical, theoretical, and practical aspect.
Maintenance hemodialysis has progressed from a tentative therapy for a few patients in Seattle to a generally available treatment sustaining 100,000 patients around the world. The technical principles of dialysis are sufficiently understood to permit fabrication of disposable dialyzers in sheet, coil, or hollow-fiber configuration. Dialysate delivery systems can serve either single patients or groups of patients with high efficiency. Reduction in size of single-parent systems by incorporation of dialysate regeneration or miniaturization of components in a suitcase will promote patient mobility.
D001769:Blood; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D007688:Kidneys, Artificial / Q000266:history / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000639:trends*; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000295:instrumentation; D013242:Sterilization; D014462:Ultrafiltration / Q000295:instrumentation; D014880:Water Softening / Q000295:instrumentation