Abstract: The invention provides an artificial kidney extracorporeal circuit assembly including an artificial kidney having detachably attached multifunctional subassembly means for automatically venting gas bubbles from liquid flowing therethrough, for continuously sensing the liquid pressure of and for filtering said liquid, together with blood tubes for connecting a patient's artery to the kidney and the subassembly outlet port to a patient's vein.The subassembly includes means associated with a hydrophobic gas bubble vent which prevent clogging, minimize blood clotting and insure against ambient gas entry through the vent.

Abstract: A positive displacement pump for delivery of blood, or the like, from patients to an extracorporeal circuit, for purification, as in hemodialysis treatments. The pump is small, and sufficiently inexpensive to be discarded after one use. The pump comprises a single blood chamber attached to inlet and outlet conduits separated from the chamber and each other by low resistance flapper valves. The flapper valves are integral with a flexible diaphragm which forms one side of the blood chamber and are operative to close the outlet valve and to open the inlet valve to fill the blood cavity responsive to withdrawal of the diaphragm from the blood chamber cavity and to reverse each valve upon penetration of the diaphragm into the blood chamber to deliver uniformly small increments of blood to an artificial kidney or other blood treatment device.

Abstract: An improved cellulose acetate semi-permeable hollow fiber suitable for use in artificial kidneys and a process for making same.