A wearable artificial glomerulus.

We have shown that hemofiltration can be conducted for 16 hrs/day for more than 3 continuous days by connecting an Amicon 0.2 M2 hemofilter to an arteriovenous shunt. We can produce over 8 ml/min of ultrafiltrate with no external pump, and this ultrafiltrate can be replaced by having the patient drink an electrolyte-glucose solution. Anticoagulation can be attained with heparin, warfarin and cyproheptadine. Each filter can be expected to function at least 48 hrs before it must be replaced.