Haemodialysis Unit
Quanta Fluid Solutions, who are developing a Haemodialysis unit for use in the patients home have used MNL and their new somos SLA resin watershed XC to speed up their development process thanks to the SLA resins new USP class VI bio-medical and skin contact classification.
Patients who have kidney failure ESRD (End Stage Renal Disease) have to endure 3-4 hours of dialysis 3 times a week just to exist. For many this involves a trip to Hospitals or Clinics and for those a little more fortunate, large expensive machines can be installed into their homes. Quanta Fluid Solutions are developing an improved solution to this problem. Their aim is to produce a unit that is cheaper, easier to install and cleaner in its day to day use than any other unit currently available.
One of the considerations of the design is the impact it has on the blood itself. The unit must obviously function correctly by reducing both toxin and water levels (a symptom of ESRD), but it must also be “kind to the blood”. Being “kind to the blood” has various considerations. A poor design may cause stagnant areas (areas with little or no blood flow), this may result in clotting of the blood. Other “unkind” design faults include sharp edges or features which may cause chemical stress, weakening of the cell structure, or worse still, rupturing of the cells. By using SLA prototypes from MNL made from DSM Somos Watershed XC and its newly passed USP VI bio-medical classification, Quanta Fluid Solutions were able to obtain prototypes and start testing within a couple of days as opposed to several weeks waiting for injection mouldings from aluminium mould tools. This not only saved money but also allowed more design iterations therefore de-risking the design process prior to laying down expensive production tooling. MNL have aided Quanta Fluid Solutions in various stages of the development of this project using their expertise in model making to produce visual representations of the entire dialysis unit.