Stopping kidney dialysis being hampered by blood vessel disease

Novel Geometric Configurations for High-Patency Arterio-Venous Fistulae (Mr Francesco Iori)

People with kidney failure need regular dialysis – a procedure where their blood is cleaned using an external machine. Doctors must connect a tube from the dialysis machine into the patient’s bloodstream, usually through a vein in the arm. But this can lead to very abnormal blood flow patterns in the body which cause disease or blood clots, and the vein can become blocked. More people are living with kidney failure than ever before, so we urgently need to find new ways to stop dialysis being hindered by disease. BHF PhD studentship grants train talented young graduates in cardiovascular research and enable them to gain a doctorate degree. Physicist, Dr Peter Vincent from Imperial College London, has received a grant to train a medical engineering Master’s graduate who has already spent a year in his lab learning about vascular fluid dynamics, computational fluid dynamics and vascular biology. Ultimately the student wishes to pursue a scientific career at the forefront of inter-disciplinary research, with particular focus on research at the interface between engineering and medicine. For his PhD, the student will work to design better shaped connections between the dialysis machine and the vein of the patient who needs dialysis, so that the blood flow patterns are more normal, and the vein stays open. The designs will be developed using computers, to simulate flow patterns in the veins. If successful, this research could significantly improve quality of life and outcomes for patients with kidney failure on dialysis, and may also reveal better ways to treat patients with heart disease.