discarding the 170 cartridges

[cev]

I think we have all receive the recall letter and form we send back to say we have discarded the bad lot#s on hand.  I am cannibalizing mine before I discard. 

The big arterial and venous lines are perfect for draining the fish tank, and you can clamp the line to stop the flow of water if necessary

and I am going to find a way to save and keep sterile the "chicken foot" so I can use it when I forget to disconnect the drain line from the saline bag and have to spike a new bag.  I have the "blue caps" that will go on two lines, I have to check the other, I think Mr. Peanut will go on that and all systems are sealed

does anyone have more ideas for use of the cartridge parts?

[Adam_W]

I haven't gotten the official recall letter and replacement cartridges yet, but I actually do have some plans for the old ones. As a lot of you know, I am very into building models. A project that I'm planning to do is a model of a steam traction engine (a very early steam powered tractor). I'm going to be doing it completely from scratch, and I've been scratching my head on how to make the boiler. I've figured that I can actually use the dialyzer from one of the bad cartridges, cut the ends off, add plastic sheet with appropriate details, and bingo, instant boiler. I can also use some of the lines to simulate piping. The plastic "tray" thingy can be cut to various shapes and used for other details. I've also had the idea of cutting off the pump segment from one and making a cannulation "practice rig" for my dad, so he can finally start learning how to stick my graft. The pump segments on the cartridges have similar characteristics to my graft (about the same thickness). Now I just need to get my replacements, although I've still been fortunate to not have any leaks.

Adam

p.s. here's a pic to show what the steam traction engine looks like. Image is from www.casesteamtractor.com

[Hawkeye]

I think we have all receive the recall letter and form we send back to say we have discarded the bad lot#s on hand.  I am cannibalizing mine before I discard.  The big arterial and venous lines are perfect for draining the fish tank, and you can clamp the line to stop the flow of water if necessary and I am going to find a way to save and keep sterile the "chicken foot" so I can use it when I forget to disconnect the drain line from the saline bag and have to spike a new bag.

To keep the pieces sterile store them in a container with 70% Isopropyl Alcohol (Rubbing Alcohol).  Make sure it's a 70% w/water solution though otherwise it isn't strong enough to keep the the parts sterile.  Starting out with a sterile container is preferable, and change the solution everytime you use the piece.  This is what we use and patients that are doing home hemo with Fresenius use to keep one of the connector pieces sterile when not in use.

[cev]

Adam,
the train is awesome, bet it will be fun to build.  Have you thought about building models with all NxStage parts/pieces/caps/lines?

Hawkeye,
thanks for the alcohol tip, I might use it.  I can sterile cap all three lines and I think I can put it in a baggie and maybe put in the refrigerator - nothing should grow that way

[Hawkeye]

I can sterile cap all three lines and I think I can put it in a baggie and maybe put in the refrigerator - nothing should grow that way.

Your refrigerator would not be a sterile environment and the baggie would allow contamination, and yes things can still grow in a fridge but should not a freezer.  Think about mold growing on old food, if mold can grow so can bacteria.