The United States of America As Represented by the Secretary of

Renal Systems, Inc.

Ronald L Wathen

Elias Klein

Louis C Cosentino

Felix J Martinez

Larry E Fuller

Richard A Ward

An implant device for peritoneal dialysis which permits a flexible catheter to be removed and replaced without invasive surgery. The catheter is passed through a substantially rigid tubular percutaneous device and a flexible sleeve member which together form a continuous conduit from the body exterior through the peritoneal wall. The catheter is associated with a percutaneous tubular device so as to be removable and replaceable through the sleeve member after implantation. The catheter preferably has a relatively weak memory which gives it a tendency to maintain a compact coiled configuration near the peritoneal wall. The catheter may extend through the percutaneous device or, more preferably, terminates within the interior cavity of the percutaneous device and is sealed from the environment by means of a septum closure within the device cavity.

Percutaneous implant for peritoneal dialysis

An apparatus and method are disclosed for monitoring, analyzing and quantitating in real time the concentrations of metabolites in serum by analyzing the dialysate solutions which are being equilibrated with the blood via a hemodialyzer. Thus, access to certain metabolically important species is provided without the necessity of blood sampling. The apparatus includes at least one ion-selective electrode coupled with the dialysate effluent stream, and the electrode EMF is converted to dialysate concentrations based on precalibration. The dialysate concentrations, in turn, are related to serum levels by factors governing mass transfer through the dialyzer.

Apparatus and method for determining serum concentrates of metabolites

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Louisville, KY, United States of America

Ronald L Wathen