New sensor might help dialysis patients

Researchers developed a non-invasive optical monitor connected to a mobile app that allows patients to monitor blood flow volume at home.

A team of researchers yesterday unveiled an artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted blood flow volume sensor for people receiving hemodialysis to help allow early treatment when arteriovenous fistulas become obstructed.
The sensor, developed through six years of effort, was introduced by Paul Chao (趙昌博), a distinguished professor in National Chiao Tung University’s department of electrical and computer engineering, at a news conference at the Ministry of Science and Technology in Taipei.
The number of people receiving dialysis last year reached a record 90,000, with their medical costs totaling NT$44.9 billion (US$1.47 billion), Chao said, citing Ministry of Health and Welfare data.
Taiwan, which is often called the “island of dialysis,” has much lower dialysis costs than other nations, but patients still need to visit a hospital three times a week and spend more than NT$600,000 per year for the treatment, Shin Kong Wu Ho-su Memorial Hospital dialysis center director Lin Bing-shi (林秉熙) said.
An arteriovenous fistula, which is created surgically in people with kidney disease to connect their blood system to a dialysis machine, is the “lifeline” of a dialysis patient, and it might cause complications, or even death if it is blocked, he said.--> READ MORE