Old Kiil dialyser - designed in Norway and using sheets of cellulose layered between nylon boards, separated and sealed from each other by red latex seals. This required the nurse to assemble it, torque wrench the whole thing together and then pressure test it. Cleaning was done with formaldehyde and rinsed with saline. When my boss commenced in Dunedin they were using these. They had no pump and relied on the patients blood pressure to move blood across the cellulose film to achieve dialysis. Labour intensive, pressure sensitive and lots of trouble shooting skill required. We still have one in storage and threaten patients who complain too much with it!! :-)
Then there is the new generation of dialysers - this required the nurse or patient to assemble a simple circuit and be able to push a few buttons!! In fact these are getting old and we are about to replace some of ours. Given that we have 40 odd people at home with a very similar machine the home and training machines will not be replaced for a long time as the retraining required would be huge but, some of the unit based machines will be updated - I hope!! New toys.
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