Clinical evaluation of a new water removal measuring device in standard dialysis

Abstract

A new device measuring water removal during standard dialysis is evaluated. The filtrate, collected from a small hemofilter inserted into a normal Cuprophan hollow-fiber dialyzer, was used to evaluate the total water removed from the patient. The device was tested in 46 patients undergoing regular dialysis treatment; the body weight loss ranged from 300 to 5,600 ml for a total of 71 dialysis sessions. Results confirmed the reliability of the device, as the mean prediction error was 5.4%. No influence of the dialyzer blood rest volume on the prediction error was observed. The authors propose this system as an alternative to bed or armchair scales and emphasize its usefulness for experimental purposes.