The effects of internal dialyzer hemodynamics on the development of microvascular dysfunction during hemodialysis in healthy and chronic renal failure rats

Patients with end-stage renal failure (ESRF) require hemodialysis (HD) to clear their blood from metabolic waste products. While generally considered mildly invasive, research shows that HD can induce severe side effects, often affecting microvascular blood flow in tissue.
We successfully developed a small animal model that allows us to successfully dialyze laboratory rats (approx. 250 grams) while simultaneously performing an intravital microscopic observation of the microcirculation. It will enable us to investigate how microvascular tissue perfusion is affected by HD directly. Moreover, since the microdialyzers are designed and produced in-house, the dialyzer’s design and functional aspects can be easily modified. As such, we can easily change the dialyzer setup, evaluate different membrane materials, modify the HD procedure, or evaluate the effect of any pharmacological treatment strategy.

Faculty Supervisor:

Barry GH Janssen;Christopher W McIntyre;Christopher W McIntyre

Student:

Partner:

Baxter

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

Lawson Health Research Institute

Program: