In vitro trials of a wearable artificial kidney (WAK)

This paper presents results of in vitro trials of a wearable artificial kidney (WAK). To carry out the trials, a test bench was developed. It consisted of a patient imitator, a tubing set and measuring equipment. Our WAK can eliminate urea, uric acid and creatinine from spent dialysate with mean mass rates of 0.85 ± 0.1 g/h, 0.10 ± 0.04 g/h and 0.05 ± 0.01 g/h, respectively. Concentrations of Na+, Cl– and Ca2+ ions were kept in the 10% range from initial values. We demonstrated that our WAK can operate for 38 hours without having to replace expendable materials. The WAK that we developed can eliminate metabolites from spent dialysis fluid with mass rates that are sufficient to maintain stable, physiologically normal metabolite concentrations in patients’ blood