Systems and methods for treating blood
According to some embodiments, a system may treat blood outside the body of a patient. The system may include at least one toxin removal system configured to process blood from at least two places on the patient's body at a rate, for example, of at least 0.5 liters per minute. The system may be configured to raise the pH level of the patient's blood by introducing a fluid at rate of at least 9 liters per hour.
1. A system comprising:
at least one toxin removal system configured to process blood received from at least two different locations on a patient's body, wherein the at least one toxin removal system is configured to perform convection dialysis on at least a portion of the blood, the at least one toxin removal system configured to be capable of removing substances over 6000 Daltons from the blood; and
wherein the at least one toxin removal system is configured to process blood from the patient at a collective rate of between 0.9 and 3 liters per minute.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein a first toxin removal system of the at least one toxin removal system is configured to perform convection dialysis at a collective rate of between 0.9 and 1.8 liters per minute.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one toxin removal system is configured to introduce fluid at a collective rate of between 9 and 30 liters per hour into the patient's blood, the fluid configured to raise the pH level of the patient's blood.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one toxin removal system is configured to introduce fluid at a collective rate of between 9 and 30 liters per hour into the patient's blood, the fluid configured to lower the pH level of the patient's blood.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one toxin removal system is configured to be capable to remove contaminants between 6000 and 40,000 Daltons.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one toxin removal system is coupled to at least one port, the at least one port coupled to a femoral vein of the patient.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one toxin removal system is coupled to at least one port, the at least one port coupled to a jugular vein of the patient.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one toxin removal system is coupled to at least one port, the at least one port coupled to a clavicle vein of the patient.
9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one toxin removal system comprises a membrane having an effective surface area of between 1.8 and 18 square meters.
10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one toxin removal system comprises a membrane having an effective surface area of between 2 and 5 square meters.
11. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the at least one toxin removal system comprises a first toxin removal system configured to perform convection dialysis on blood received from a first location on the patient's body and a second toxin removal system configured to perform convection dialysis on blood received from a second location on the patient's body; and
the first and second toxin removal systems are configured to introduce substances into the blood at a collective rate of between 9 and 30 liters per hour.
12. The system of claim 11 , wherein:
the first location is at least one of the group consisting of: the left femoral vein, the left clavicle vein, and the left jugular vein; and
the second location is at least one of the group consisting of: the right femoral vein, the right clavicle vein, and the right jugular vein.
13. The system of claim 11 , wherein:
the first and second toxin removal systems are configured to process the blood at a collective rate of between 0.9 and 2 liters per minute; and
the first and second toxin removal systems are configured to introduce substances into the blood at a collective rate of between 15 and 30 liters per hour.