A new machine for continuous renal replacement therapy: From development to clinical testing

A now continuous renal replacement therapy machine has been designed to fulfill the expectations of nephrologists and intensivists operating In the common ground of critical care nephrology. The new equipment is called Prismaflex(R) and it is the natural evolution of the PRISMA(R) machine that has been utilized worldwide for continuous renal replacement therapy in the last 10 yeas. The authors performed a preliminary alpha-trial to establish the usability, flexibility and reliability of the new device. Accuracy was also tested by recording various operational parameters during different intermittent and continuous renal replacement modalities during 62 treatments. This article will describe our first experience with this new device and touch upon the historic and technologic background leading to Its development.