| [ Summary ] |
Continuous hematocrit monitoring technologies, which have recently been developed, have clarified the time course of blood volume (VB) for patients during hemodialysis (HD) treatment. This enables an estimation of the plasma refilling rate (PRR), which means a water shift from the extravascular space to the intravascular space. An optimum control system for removal of excess water from the patient during the HD treatment can accordingly be established, to respond to the time PRR profile. A water shift model was introduced to clarify the mechanism of the water shifts in the patient. This model was based on three compartments; intracellular, interstitial and intravascular spaces. The characteristics of the model are discussed in this paper. |