Acute renal failure is a major contributing cause of death in patients in the ICU and OR partly due to the lack of a simple, rapid method of assessing kidney function. it would therefore be extremely useful if a direct measurement of renal function could be performed at regular intervals so that the need for any medical of surgical intervention could be identified before any significant damage occurred to the kidneys or other organs due to renal failure. We propose to develop a practical, cost effective instrument and protocol to provide the renal blood flow (RBF) data necessary to monitor renal condition and predict possible failure in ICU and OR patients. The proposed solid state, nuclear detection system and accompanying nuclear medical protocols should fulfill this need. RMD, Inc., in collaboration with the Bowman Gray School of Medicine,has conducted a Phase I research program which demonstrated the feasibility of this concept. We therefore program which demonstrate the feasibility of this concept. We therefore propose to complete the research to develop a fully functional clinical prototype instrument and the medical protocol for its use. The development of this new monitoring capability will lead important advancements in the study of renal function as well as the creation of a potentially successful technical product.
