newbie from Chicago

[pdresearcher]

Hello everyone.  I live in Chicago.  I've been involved with PD research for almost 10 years.  I'm looking for ways to make PD devices easier to use and cheaper so that people in developing countries may be able to use PD as well.  I've got a fair amount of experience with the Baxter HomeChoice device and some experience with the Fresenius Liberty device.  I look forward to learning about some suggested improvements that can be made in PD devices, to the extent that those improvements can be done in an affordable manner.  I've heard wonderful things about this site!  Glad to be a part of this community!

[PaulBC]

Welcome! Just the guy I wanted to talk to

I've been admiring the disposable fluid transfer system in the Baxter HomeChoice cycler we are using. It's a sealed system with just two places to apply pressure (or maybe suction?). I don't see any moving parts (valves) inside. Somehow the machine moves fluid in all different ways just by applying these two controls. Is that correct?

I'm just curious if there is any documentation readable by the layperson to describe how this thing works. Every day I throw out one of these amazing devices taking care of my daughter, and I thought I might clean one out and recycle it for a science project.

[PaulBC]

Also, speaking of dialysis in the developing world, I am kind of curious about the manufacturing cost of dialysate. I am sure  it is expensive due to very high standards of purity and sterilization. But are the ingredients themselves significantly more costly than those used in the same volume of, say, Gatorade? I don't see anything obvious, though admittedly I don't know all the ingredients.

The cycler (while a very wonderful, lifesaving device) also seems substantially simpler than widely available and inexpensive inkjet printers. I realize we need much greater reliability and many more regulations apply. It is also not subject to the same economies of scale.

But my impression looking at all this is that PD does not need to be an expensive treatment at all and certainly should be available to many people in the developing world.

As for usability. Meh. I can handle it, but it is clear the programming interface hasn't changed in a long time. I have no idea when this machine was designed, but it looks like late 80s tech. If you could add WiFi, the usability could be vastly improved just by making it accessible to a laptop, tablet, or smartphone (which are now ubiquitous including in the developing world). I am not sure how often such revisions are possible, and I can imagine it takes a while to get even simple changes approved.

[Rerun]

Let's just welcome him at this point.  Otherwise people will miss out on this great conversation.  Please start a new topic under home dialysis.

Glad you joined us.    

Rerun, Admin.

[Darthvadar]

  to IHD....

Great to have you on board...

Please visit us, and post often... We REALLY love the chatty ones!....

God bless...

Darth... Moderator...

[pdresearcher]

Sorry it's taken me so long to reply, PaulBC.  I thought maybe I'd get an email notification when someone had replied to my post, so I wasn't aware that there had been replies already until just now!  There's probably some way to set up notifications, I just haven't looked into the settings yet.  Anyway, here's a patent that refers to the valve mechanism that's used in your daughter's disposable set.  http://www.google.com/patents/US5088515.  It's not very easy to read by a layperson, but the abstract and the body of it describes that the flexible membrane seals off the mouth of the valves using air pressure.  As for costs, I don't know what it costs to make the solutions, but they have to be sterilized, which makes it more expensive than something like Gatorade.  Thanks for the suggestions for device improvements!

[PaulBC]

Thanks for the belated reply. I also found patent US8070709, which looks exactly like our disposable set. Haven't had a chance to look at either of them closely.