The Issue in Dialysis

Pulmonary hypertension kills:

• A fatal disease with mean survival from onset of symptoms of 2-3 years
• Pulmonary hypertension is a major factor in determining patients’ life expectancy.

Hemodialysis is a major affecter of pulmonary hypertension:

• 30- 40% of patients develop the disease
• Pulmonary hypertension is caused by bubbles/microbubbles generated during hemodialysis procedures

The solution:

Thera-Sonics’ BubbleBuster^TM eliminates more than 90% of all bubbles down to the pico-liter range, at low added cost (relative to the procedure’s cost) that generates high income/profit for There-Sonics

Today’s market:

More than 160 millions yearly procedures with 7% growth rate 
 
Air Bubbles Induce Pulmonary Hypertension in Hemodialysis Patients
 

Figures - Small A: ~60-80 um microbubble (AE) pushing Neutrophils (N) towards a vessel wall. A: Shows complementary system activation at a pulmonary arteriole (PA) wall causing endothelial gaping. B: a close-up of the endothelial gap caused by the Neutrophils activity. 

• Pulmonary Hypertension is a  fatal disease with mean survival from onset of symptoms of 2-3 years (1)
• Air bubbles introduced to the body by injection or decompression cause structural damage to the lungs and significant increase in pulmonary artery pressure (“PAP”) leading to Pulmonary Hypertension (“PH”) (2-6)
• Numerous air bubbles are injected to patients during each hemodialysis treatment 7, 8
• Very high percentage (> 30%) of patients maintained on hemodialysis suffer from pulmonary hypertension 9, 10 ,11
  –   PH was found in 40% of 58 patients receiving hemodialysis vs. 1 of 12 pre-dialysis 9
  –   No PH was observed in 5 patients undergoing long term peritoneal dialysis 9
  –   Five out of five patients suffered increased PAP vs. pre-dialysis values 9
• Four of them suffered from PH
  –  Elevated PAP in in five out of five hemodialysis patients decreased significantly after kidney transplantation 9

For a complete list of articles from peer reviewed journals related to bubbles issues, please contact Thera-Sonics : info@thera-sonics.com

 
References:

1. S. P. Gaine and L. J. Rubin, Lancet 352: 719-25, 1998
2. P. W. Catron et al, J. Appl. Physiol. 57 (2): 467 - 474, 1984
3. K. H. Albertine et al, J. Appl. Physiol. 57 (5): 1360 - 1368, 1984
4. C. E. Atkins et al, J. Appl. Physiol. 65 (3), 1163 - 1171, 1988
5. D. Wang et al, J. Appl. Physiol. 72(4): 1235 - 1242, 1992
6. P. W. Catron et al, Undersea Biomed Re. 14: 101-111, 1987
7. F. Rolle et al, Nephrol. Dial. Transplant 15: 1420 - 1424, 2000
8. D. W. Droste et al, Nephrol. Dial. Transplant 17: 462 - 466, 2002
9. M. Yigla et al, Chest 123 (5): 1577 - 1582, 2003
10. M. Amin et al, Chest 124 (6): 2093 - 2097, 2003
11. M. Yigla et al, Kidney International 66: 806 - 810, 2004

 
The Issue in Open-Heart Surgeries

Almost one million surgeries are conducted annually, of which approximately 30% are in the U.S. It is estimated that over 6,000 CPB machines are in use world-wide. Overall, the global open-heart surgery market is estimated at more than $2 Billion.

Injected Air Bubbles Cause Neuropsychlogic Impairment After CABG

1. “… the majority of cerebral microemboli during CPB consist of air” 1, (2)
2. “… the vast majority of emboli occur immediately after injection of drugs, as well as small amounts of air contained within the syrings, into the venous reservoir by the perfusionists” 1
3. “Cerebral microemboli have been established as the principal cause of postoperative neuropsychologic impairment” 1, (3)
    
   For a complete list of articles from peer reviewed journals related to bubbles issues, please contact Thera-Sonics: info@thera-sonics.com

References:

1. M. A. Borger et al, The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery 118 (4): 740 – 745, 1999
2. R. L. Taylor et al, Ann. Thorac. Surg, 86: 89 – 93, 1999
3. M. A. Borger et al, The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery 121 (4): 743 – 749, 2001