Research Highlights

Dialysis Model

In the treatment of kidney disease, many patients require dialysis to remove waste products from their blood. The dialysis process can take up to four hours and during this time, the blood from the patient is passed through a dilayzer where the blood is filtered and returned to the patients bloodstream in a continual process. A typical dialyzer is shown in the illustration. It works by passing blood through perforated tubes encased in a cassette within the dialyzer. Blood flows in one direction down the tubes and a filtration fluid, diaysate, flows in the opposite direction. Diffusion and convection drive the exchange of solutes through a number of tiny channels that connect the tubes and thereby clean the blood. Sophisticated mathematical models of this process allow practitioners to gain insights into this complex process thereby allowing them to tailer treatments to the individual needs of a patient.

This project is led by Prof. Bohun