Blood flow velocity and ultra-filtration velocity measured by CT imaging system inside a densely bundled hollow fiber dialyzer

Abstract

Hollow fiber dialyzer is a device used for years in the therapy of hemodialysis treating people with severe kidney problems. In the design of such a device, the measurement of the blood flow velocity and the ultra-filtration velocity inside the dialyzer are very important. And non-invasive measurement solutions are highly desired during experiment. This paper presents a novel non-invasive measurement method to handle this work. The method adopts a CT (Computed Tomography) system to acquire blood motion data inside a densely bundled hollow fiber dialyzer, and then, by adopting a series of image processing methods, the blood flow velocity as well as the ultra-filtration velocity is measured.