ABSTRACT
Nowhere in clinical medicine is there a better example of the benefits of biomedical engineering to patient care than that offered by chronic hemodialysis. This technology, using a machine to maintain and preserve the life of the patient, has been and continues to be successful. Unfortunately, the interface between the two is defective. The vascular access is associated with complications. These complications result in patient morbidity and mortality and add considerably to the cost of managing chronic renal failure. The annual cost of maintaining vascular access in the United States is approaching one billion dollars (1). This represents only the tip of the iceberg, however. Problems that derive both directly and secondarily from these complications result in a major proportion of the hospitalizations required in this frequently hospitalized population of patients (2).
