Microbubbles detached from a blood circuit and a blood purification unit are discharged with the use of a backflow generated at the instant that a roller of a blood pump releases a squeezable tube. In a normal rotation step, a region filled with a priming solution after a priming step is closed by a closing unit, and a rotor of a blood pump is rotated normally until a roller of the blood pump releases a squeezable tube to generate a backflow. After the backflow is generated at the release of the squeezable tube by the roller of the blood pump, bubbles are moved by reversely rotating the rotor while disabling the closing by the closing unit. Thus, the bubbles are discharged through a discharge unit.

An adapter set that is attached to artery-side and vein-side shunt connectors-that are provided on a blood circuit. The adapter set includes: an artery-side adapter that has one end thereof connected to the artery-side shunt connector, has the other end thereof connected to a drainage port that is provided on the outside of the blood circuit, and thereby connects the artery-side shunt connector and the drainage port fluid tight; and a vein-side adapter that has one end thereof connected to the vein-side shunt connector, has the other end thereof connected to a supply port that is provided on the outside of the blood circuit, and thereby connects the vein-side shunt connector and the supply port fluid tight. The structure of the other end of the artery-side adapter and the structure of the other end of the vein-side adapter are different.

A blood purification apparatus that is capable of, with no preparatory operations, performing substitution by supplying dialysate in a dialysate introduction line to a blood circuit during ultrafiltration treatment, or performing blood return by immediately supplying the dialysate in the dialysate introduction line to the blood circuit after the ultrafiltration treatment. A blood purification apparatus includes a dialyzer, a dialysate introduction line, a dialysate drain line L2 through which drain liquid from the dialyzer is drained, and an ultrafiltration pump capable of removing water from the blood in the blood circuit. The blood purification apparatus is capable of performing substitution or blood return by supplying the dialysate in the dialysate introduction line L1 to the blood circuit. In an ultrafiltration treatment in which the ultrafiltration pump is activated while the introduction of the dialysate into the dialyzer is stopped, dialysate delivery is performed while the introduction of the dialysate into the dialyzer is prevented.

A mechanical kidney transplant designed may include a four modules designed to interconnect to clean blood. The first module may include a plurality of pump modules and a resin gel regeneration module, wherein the first module is operatively attached to a patient's iliac artery, iliac vein, and bladder. The second module may be operatively attached to the first module and may include storage and pump systems. The third module may be operatively attached to the first and fourth modules and may include a housing with ports for inflow/outflow of the blood and the physiologic resin gel between the first module and the fourth module. The fourth module may include at least one dialyzer fiber sized to accommodate a volume of blood flowing therethrough and an area surrounding the dialyzer fiber may be sized to accommodate a volume of a physiologic resin gel flowing counter current to the blood.

A peritoneal dialysis (“PD”) system having an air-aided pumping sequence is disclosed herein. In an example, a PD system includes a housing, a PD fluid pump housed by the housing, an airtrap, a fluid line extending from the airtrap, a fluid line valve positioned and arranged to operate with the fluid line, a gas line extending from an upper portion of the airtrap, and a gas line valve positioned and arranged to operate with the gas line. The system also includes a control unit configured to cause the fluid line valve to close, the gas line valve to open, and the PD fluid pump to pump gas from the airtrap into the gas line after a patient drain to create a pocket of gas in the fluid line and push residual used PD fluid towards a drain line.

A medical fluid management assembly includes a pneumatic manifold, a pump and valve engine, and a fluid manifold. The pneumatic manifold includes a plurality of pneumatic passageways and a plurality of pneumatic connectors. The pump and valve engine includes a plurality of valve chambers, at least one pump chamber, and a plurality of pneumatic connectors mated sealingly and releasably with the pneumatic connectors of the pneumatic manifold. The pump and valve engine also includes a plurality of fluid connectors. The fluid manifold includes a plurality of fluid pathways and a plurality of fluid connectors mated sealingly and releasably with the fluid connectors of the pump and valve engine.

A hydrophobic filter for filtering an airflow or another gaseous flow in a medical application has a housing encompassing a filter chamber, an inlet port arranged on the housing and forming an inlet opening, an outlet port arranged on the housing and forming an outlet opening, and a hydrophobic structure extending along a plane of extension and separating the filter chamber into an inlet chamber and an outlet chamber. The inlet opening opens into the inlet chamber and the outlet opening opens into the outlet chamber. Herein, the outlet opening opens into the outlet chamber at a first location when viewed along the plane of extension and the inlet opening opens into the inlet chamber at a second location different from the first location when viewed along the plane of extension.

A filter CF1 for filtering dialysis fluid comprises the following: a housing 52 inside of which a filter material 51 is accommodated and which is vertically long; an introduction port 53 that is disposed in the lower part of the housing and that introduces dialysis fluid from an upstream-side flow path 23a; a filtered fluid lead-out port 54 through which filtered dialysis fluid, which has passed through the filter material, is lead out from the upper part of the housing to a downstream-side flow path 23b; and an unfiltered fluid lead-out port 55 through which unfiltered fluid is lead out from the upper part of the housing to a waste fluid flow path 57. When removing the filter from a dialysis fluid circuit 4, fluid is suctioned from the inside of the housing via the upstream-side flow path by using fluid suction means 64A, and a gas is caused to flow into the housing from at least either one of the waste fluid flow path and the downstream-side flow path by using gas inflow means 65. The fluid may be suctioned from the downstream-side flow path and the gas may be caused to flow in from the upstream-side flow path, or the fluid may be suctioned from the waste fluid flow path and the gas may be caused to flow in from the downstream-side flow path. Residual fluid in the filter can be reduced.

An airtrap for a medical or physiological fluid in one embodiment includes a conical housing having a radius that increases from its top to its bottom when the housing is positioned for operation; a medical or physiological fluid inlet located at an upper portion of the conical housing; a medical or physiological fluid outlet located at a lower portion of the conical housing, the inlet and the outlet positioned and arranged so that medical or physiological fluid spirals in an increasing arc around an inside of the conical housing downwardly from the inlet to the outlet; and a gas collection area located at an upper portion of the conical housing. In another embodiment, the airtrap is shaped like a seahorse having a head section and a tail section. Any of the airtraps herein may be used for example in blood sets, peritoneal dialysis cassette tubing, and drug delivery sets.

The present invention generally relates to hemodialysis and similar dialysis systems, including a variety of systems and methods that would make hemodialysis more efficient, easier, and/or more affordable. One aspect of the invention is generally directed to new fluid circuits for fluid flow. According to one aspect, a blood pump is configured to pump blood to a dialyzer of a hemodialysis apparatus, the blood pump comprising a pneumatically actuated or controlled reciprocating diaphragm pump. In an embodiment, the diaphragm of the pump comprises a flexible membrane formed or molded to generally conform to a curved inner wall of a pumping chamber or control chamber of the pump, wherein the diaphragm is pre-formed or molded to have a control side taking a convex shape, so that any elastic tension on the diaphragm is minimized when fully extended into a control chamber of the pump. In another aspect, a system for monitoring the adequacy of blood flow in a blood line of the hemodialysis apparatus allows a controller to suspend dialysate pumping operations if the adequacy of blood flow in the blood line is sub-optimal, and to present information on a display on the quality of blood flow in the blood line.