Renal dialysis membrane leak detector

A leak developing in the membrane separating the blood from the dialysate in an artificial kidney machine requires immediate corrective action. The earliest possible action is desirable in order to minimize patient blood loss. This makes system sensitivity to hemoglobin concentration an important design criteria for blood leak detectors. The leak detector described in this paper matches the spectral properties of hemoglobin to those of the detector in order to achieve a maximum sensitivity while minimizing false alarms. The paper describes the instrumentation and circuitry as well as test results of simulated and clinical trials of the detection system.