A renal failure therapy machine includes a blood cleaning filter, a dialysis fluid circuit including a balance chamber, the balance chamber including a fresh dialysis fluid compartment configured to send fresh dialysis fluid to the blood cleaning filter and a used dialysis fluid compartment configured to receive used dialysis fluid from the blood cleaning filter, a fresh dialysis fluid line in fluid communication with the fresh dialysis fluid compartment of the balance chamber and the blood cleaning filter, and a flow restrictor in fluid communication with the blood cleaning filter, the flow restrictor configured to cause fresh dialysis fluid delivered from the fresh dialysis fluid compartment, through the fresh dialysis fluid line, to the blood cleaning filter to be pressurized so that a first amount of the fresh dialysis fluid performs convective clearance and a second amount of the fresh dialysis fluid performs diffusive clearance.

Provided is a blood purification apparatus that returns blood in a blood circuit to a body. A blood purification apparatus includes: a blood circuit and a dialysate circuit coupled to each other through a blood purifier; an air introduction route coupled to the dialysate circuit; an air introducer provided to any of the dialysate circuit and the air introduction route and configured to set the dialysate circuit to a positive pressure by introducing air into the dialysate circuit through the air introduction route; and a controller configured to control the air introducer in such a way as to feed a dialysate from the dialysate circuit to the blood circuit, and to control the blood circuit and the dialysate circuit in such a way as to return blood in the blood circuit and the blood purifier to a body by feeding the dialysate from the dialysate circuit to the blood circuit.

A dialysis system is disclosed. The example dialysis system includes a housing, a pump actuator housed by the housing, a fluid pumping cassette coupled operably to the housing and including a flexible membrane covering a pump chamber, and a mechanically actuated piston head provided by the pump actuator and positioned to extend towards and away from the fluid pumping cassette. The fluid pumping cassette is positioned such that the flexible membrane of the fluid pumping cassette faces the piston head so that the piston head can push the flexible membrane into the pump chamber of the fluid pumping cassette to expel a fluid from the pump chamber. The example dialysis system also includes a controller programmed to perform a leak test by monitoring a sensed position of the mechanically actuated piston head while the mechanically actuated piston head applies a force to the flexible membrane of the fluid pumping cassette.

A blood purification column includes an adsorbent and a casing whose two ends are open ends, wherein the adsorbent is housed inside the casing, and wherein one of two casing ends is a blood inflow-side end portion and another is a blood outflow-side end portion, and wherein a filter is disposed at the blood inflow-side end portion and/or the blood outflow-side end portion of the casing, and wherein the filter satisfies (1)-(3): (1) an opening rate thereof is greater than or equal to 5% and less than or equal to 80%; (2) an equivalent diameter of an aperture thereof is greater than or equal to 1 m and less than or equal to 5000 m; (3) a ratio of the equivalent diameter of the aperture thereof to an average circle equivalent diameter of void spaces of the adsorbent is greater than or equal to 45%.

There are provided a blood purification apparatus and a priming method thereof which can reliably perform air bubble purging of a blood purification device while workability is maintained during priming. During the priming, an air purging step is performed by causing a blood pump to perform reverse rotation, and electromagnetic valves and are brought into an opened state so as to open the overflow line (L) and a priming solution supply line and so as to discharge a priming solution from an overflow line while supplying a dialysate functioning as the priming solution from the priming solution supply line.

A dialysis system includes an on-line dialysate generator, a first dialysate pump in fluid communication with the on-line dialysate generator, and a second dialysate pump in fluid communication with the on-line dialysate generator. The dialysis system also includes a dialyzer in fluid communication with the first and second dialysate pumps. The dialysis system further includes a first valve located between the first dialysate pump and the dialyzer and a second valve located between the second dialysate pump and the dialyzer. The dialysis system is configured to alternate pumping of dialysate from the first and second dialysate pumps to the dialyzer using the first and second valves.

The present invention relates to a method for checking a dialyzer for the presence of a leak in the semipermeable membrane of the dialyzer, wherein the membrane divides the inner dialyzer space into a least one blood chamber and into at least one dialyzate chamber, wherein the blood chamber is flowed through by blood in the operation of the dialyzer and is in fluid communication with a blood-side line system and the vascular system of the patient, and wherein the dialyzate chamber is flowed through by dialysis fluid in the operation of the dialyzer and is in fluid communication with a dialyzate-side line system, wherein the method comprises the following steps: a) emptying the blood chamber or the dialyzate chamber of blood and of dialysis fluid respectively and keeping the fluid (blood or dialyzate) in the non-emptied dialyzate chamber or blood chamber;

b) building up a test pressure by means of a gas, in particular by means of air, in the emptied blood chamber or in the emptied dialyzate chamber; and c) measuring the pressure drop over time in the emptied blood chamber or in the emptied dialyzate chamber or in the line system respectively in fluid communication therewith and/or measuring the pressure increase in the non-emptied blood chamber or in the non-emptied dialyzate chamber or in the line system respectively in fluid communication therewith or measuring the number of air bubbles or of a parameter correlated with the number of air bubbles in the non-emptied blood chamber or in the non-emptied dialyzate chamber or in a line system respectively in fluid communication therewith,
wherein the steps a) to c) are carried out subsequent to the blood treatment of the patient and subsequent to the disconnection of the patient from the blood-side line system.

Simple-to-use systems, methods, and devices for priming replacement blood treatment devices, for swapping the blood treatment devices out, for replacing swapped-out blood treatment devices, and other related operations are described. In embodiments, a blood treatment device can be primed while a therapy is still running. When the replacement blood treatment device is needed, the therapy can be stopped momentarily (less than a minute) for the rapid and safe swap of the blood treatment device. Blood loss can be minimized. The down time from therapy can be minimized.

A hemodialysis system is disclosed. The hemodialysis system includes a dialyzer and an online dialysate generation system comprising a water inlet line and a drain line. The hemodialysis system also includes a disposable set comprising a supply tube fluidly connected to online dialysate generation system and a dialysate pumping tube fluidly connected to the dialyzer. The hemodialysis system further includes a dialysis instrument comprising a dialysate pump head and a motor positioned and arranged to operate the dialysate pump head. The dialysis instrument operates the dialysate pump head to move fresh dialysate from the online dialysate generation system through the dialysate pumping tube to the dialyzer.

A photopheresis system (200) is disclosed, and that may be configured to execute one or more protocols. These protocols include: 1) protocols (400; 430; 460) for purging air out of a centrifuge bowl (210) used by the photopheresis system (200); 2) protocols (500; 510 550) for assessing the installation/operation of one or more pressure domes (330) used by the photopheresis system (200); and 3) protocols (580; 600; 660; 700; 740) for collecting buffy coat from blood processed by the photopheresis system (200).