The acu-men: a new device for continuous renal replacement therapy in acute renal failure.

Abstract

We sought to design a simple machine to safely provide continuous veno-venous hemofiltration to acute renal failure patients. The acu-men device uses a pneumatic blood pump with tidal blood flow as the driving force. A volumetric balancing system balances the filtrate with the replacement fluid, and the blood-air interface is eliminated by replacing the conventional venous drip chamber with two air-separating membranes. The extracorporeal circuit is integrated in a disposable cartridge, which is inserted into the machine at the beginning of treatment. The priming and rinsing is done automatically. While preliminary data from an ongoing clinic trial on the efficacy of the device are encouraging, further long-term studies are necessary to evaluate its potential to decrease morbidity and mortality in acute renal failure patients.