Hemodialysis
Dialysis is the medical procedure used to provide artificial replacement for lost kidney function in patients with renal failure. There are three primary types of dialysis; hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, and hemofiltration.
Hemodialysis is a method for removing waste products from the blood by pumping the blood across a partially permeable membrane. During hemodialysis treatments blood is removed from the body through a hemodialysis catheter (via the arterial lumen), sent to the dialysis machine where it is cleansed, and then returned to the body through the venous lumen of the same catheter.
A long term hemodialysis catheter is often tunneled in the chest near the heart where blood flow is high, allowing the hemodialysis machine to cleanse the blood as quickly and efficiently as possible. Typical flow rates range between 200-500 ml/min. The following medical devices are typically used during hemodialysis:
- Acute Hemodialysis Catheter (< 10 day implantation)
- Chronic Hemodialysis Catheter (> 10 day implantation)
- Blood Line Sets
- Introducers and Dilators
- Tunnelers
- Guide wires and Stylets
- Connectors
Common complications with hemodialysis include thrombosis and infection. Biomerics has developed the industry's most complete range of biopolymers for hemodialysis applications. Biomerics' Quadrathane™, Quadraflex™, Quadraplast™ and Quadraphillic™ engineered polymer product lines provide the required mechanical properties, oxidative stability, biocompatibility, chemical resistance, and body softening characteristics required for dialysis applications. Biomerics provides a wide range of materials, extrusions, and machined components to many of the world's leading dialysis manufacturers.