WNY.........I cannot say with any certainty that I have actually seen documentation on changing out diasafe filters every 12 to 13 bleachings.Since we received the H machines, I know that changing out filters every qrt pm or 13 bleaches was somehow instructed to us by the powers that be.Based on our instruction, I was merely assuming that such documentation was in place.I will definitely research it more;However I must say that wheather it be bleach or heat disinfection, the integrity of that diasafe filter is effected over time.There are certainly pros and cons here. I want to point out that wheather or not there is written documentation on this matter or wheather or not you have received support bleaching on a daily basis,You must understand that when I was first made aware of this, It seemed to make sense to me,besides the fact i was doing what I was told to do.Based on my own experience,It is my belief that the diasafe filter is exposed to bleach for longer periods of time(injection time) (ie: bleaching daily) than any reusable dialyzer. Not to mention the fact that there are maximum usage limits on reusable dialyzers.Ive never seen a 90 day max limit on a reusable dialyzer.Im sure that you must be doing the routinal integrity test of these filters?Anyway it was not my intention to offend you if I did.I was basicly giving input to a question based on my experience.I must also say that I was not pointing out that the mere practice of bleaching everyday was expensive in and of itself.I was saying that If such a policy of changing out diasafe filters every 13 bleachings were in place,then based on everyday bleaching that it would be more expensive. take care:

skiwolf

skiwolf,

My FMC sales rep happened to stop by yesterday and we discussed the Diasafe in general then this topic specifically. He said that "they reccomend they get changed out quarterly which would be after 13 bleachings". Check with your sales rep and see if they have any documentation on this. I still think that since bleach is known to strip polysulfone, you may be on the right track.

quote:

Originally posted by Chuck W:
skiwolf,

My FMC sales rep happened to stop by yesterday and we discussed the Diasafe in general then this topic specifically. He said that "they reccomend they get changed out quarterly which would be after 13 bleachings". Check with your sales rep and see if they have any documentation on this. I still think that since bleach is known to strip polysulfone, you may be on the right track.

You might want to ask the people in who put your drains in what you can do about the problem.

Here is some documentation that we have on the Diasafe filters.

We are using the Diasafe Plus. We received a package insert with the replacement diasafes. This insert was produced by Fresenius Medical Care AG. (Germany) Here are some of the recommendations on the insert.

Disinfection according to the operating instructions of the machine is essential.
The mandatory filter integrity test must be manually performed on 2008 series machines according to the operating instructions (of the machine).
Diasafe must be exchanged after 12 weeks or 100 treatments or earlier if integrity test fails.
Disinfection is mandatory after installation.

The Diasafe filter Operators instructions for the 2008H & 2008K were included with our machines on delivery. These instructions were produced by Fresenius USA. (P/N 490039 Rev. B) Here are some of the recommendations in this document.

Machine disinfection procedure is unchanged.
Replace Diasafe every 90 days (3months).
Always perform automated or manual pressure holding test before performing filter integrity test.
Do a filter integrity test after replacing the filter.
Do a filter integrity test every other week.
Instructions for the filter integrity test are also included.

Implications:
In our unit we do 18 treatments per week on each machine (3 times per day x 6 days). The 100 treatment maximum thus works out to about 5 � weeks instead of 12 if the machine is kept in service the whole time. The bi-weekly filter integrity testing represents a considerable investment of time and record keeping. It is possible to do the tests between treatments and thus avoid some of the time penalty of bringing a machine into conductivity and automated pressure holding test.

Your biofilm drain problem is directly a result to the new bleach cycle incorperated in the 2008K. 60ml of bleach is recirculated and then expelled once at the end of disinfection. Fresenius USA is currently working to change the bleach cycle back to drawing up 200ml and passing it once thru the machine, then draw up 60ml of bleach and recirculate within the machine. Check with Fresenius Engineers in Walnut Creek,CA they have a whole list of problems that we incountered with the 2008K and are now working to solve.

Up here in Canada Fresenius told us that the Diasafe was good for 12 weeks only if you only Bleach once a week as it has to be replaced after 13 bleach cycles. Why I don't know but that is what they told us, which was a problem for us a we bleach in between patient runs so we would replace the filters weekly, large cost. Also as GWN said the K machine doesn't put enough bleach through the system to help with drain problems, sorry but I don't really have any new suggestions for you to try.