This then remixes with a known electrolyte concentrate for representation to the dialyser. As the same small water volume can recirculate, at least until column exhaustion, water source independence is assured. Many current technological developments Kinase Inhibitor Library ic50 in dialysis equipment are now focusing on sorbent-based dialysate circuitry. Although possibly déjà vu for some, it is timely for a brief review of sorbent chemistry and its application to dialysis systems. The single pass proportioning dialysis system has been the dominant

haemodialysis configuration since it was commercially introduced in the early 1960s.1,2 Only one other delivery system ever emerged to significantly challenge this method – sorbent dialysis.3,4 However, the cost differential soon heavily biased in favour of single pass delivery paired with reverse osmosis (R/O) water purification. Consequently, by the early 1990s, sorbent dialysis had disappeared from clinical use. Single pass systems are inherently water hungry and, despite solid-state electronics, require regular and costly fluid pathway maintenance. Further, to provide ‘dialysis-grade’

water for the proportioning system, an expensive, complex and power-hungry R/O plant is needed. Even then, the water quality provided by an R/O and single pass system often remains questionable. Late in the either 1990s, interest was rekindled in sorbent-based systems, PLX-4720 manufacturer particularly by those seeking system miniaturization, portability and wearability.5 Meanwhile, the range, capacity and manufacturing costs of dialysis-suited sorbents had also improved. By 2010, although still largely developmental, sorbent dialysis has again emerged as a viable technological alternative.6,7 The search for smaller, portable, water-sparing, low maintenance and user-friendly machines, equally suited to home or to facility, has inevitably led

back towards sorbent technology. A range of new haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis delivery systems are now basing their independence from continuous-flow water supply on the reconstitution of the dialysate through sorbent cartridges.6–9 This paper seeks to introduce – or reacquaint prior users with – the basic concepts of sorbent-based dialysate regeneration. A sorbent is a material that, either as a solid or a liquid, can bind another substance or compound by adsorption to or absorption into its structure. This bonding may be physical or chemical and, primarily, involves chemical or ionic bonding, or the formation of molecular complexes. The larger the sorbent surface area, the greater the binding efficiency.