Ex vivo design evaluation of an implantable blood port system

A prototype of a totally implantable vascular catheter-port system was evaluated on its design using three animals of different species. The catheter was placed either intravenously or intra-arterially, and connected to the port which was retained outside the body. Parameters used for design evaluation or functionality testing were focused on the use and handling of the port-catheter system such as easiness of flushing, injection, blood sampling, septum stiffness to prevent blood reflux after pushing the septum, and possible diffusion of blood into the saline present in the port-catheter system. This pilot experiment showed that the septum of the prototype port system was too flexible, and that the distance between septum and base of the port was too short. These findings have led to a major improvement of the catheter-port system, currently successfully used in cancer chemotherapy.