peritoneal equilibration tests date back to the work of zyblut twardowski et al . in peritoneal equilibration test , perit . dial bull , 7 ( 3 ), pp . 138 - 47 ( 1987 ) ( hereinafter “ zyblut 1987 ”), and clinical value of standardized equilibration tests in capd patients . blood purif , 7 , pp . 95 - 108 ( 1989 ). this work , and much work that followed , may be generally summarized with fig1 , which graphs on the abscissa or x - axis the ratio of d / d 0 , the ratio of a concentration of glucose in the used dialysis fluid to the initial concentration of glucose in the fresh dialysis fluid . the graph also presents on the ordinate or y - axis the ratio of the concentration of creatinine in the used dialysate to the concentration of creatinine in the plasma , the ratio d / p , that is , in the concentration in the spent dialysis fluid to the concentration in the patient &# 39 ; s blood plasma . dialysis patients , or indeed the general population , may be classified by the transport characteristics of their peritoneal membrane into one of four categories , as shown in fig1 . “ high ” or “ h ” transporters have a higher ratio of a concentration of waste - product solute in the dialysate fluid to that in their blood , and a lower ratio of glucose in the dialysis fluid to the initial concentration of glucose in the dialysis fluid , when compared to “ low ” or “ l ” transporters . patients with intermediate transport characteristics may be classified as “ high - average ” or “ ha ” transporters , or “ low - average ” or “ la ” transporters . in simpler terms , high transporters move the solutes through their peritoneum faster and achieve a higher d / p ratio , but glucose in the dialysis fluid also transports rapidly , and thus there is a lower ratio of glucose to initial glucose ( d / d 0 ) in the spent dialysis fluid . low transporters move the solutes through their peritoneum more slowly , but achieve higher ratios of solute in the spent dialysis fluid as compared with an initial value of the solute in the dialysis fluid . high - average and low - average transporters are intermediate between these two . in prescribing a therapy for high transporters , it is clear that a therapy should involve greater amounts of dialysis fluid and shorter dwell times for higher ultrafiltrate . for low transporters , lesser amounts of dialysis fluid may be combined with longer dwell times to achieve both higher ultrafiltration and more solute removal . fig1 is a summary chart that leaves off much of the details in how these charts were prepared . as is well known to those with ordinary skill in the art , these charts are actually first constructed as time - scales , with time plotted on the abscissa and d / d 0 or d / p plotted on the ordinate . see zyblut 1987 . the ratio of d / d 0 and d / p may then be plotted , leaving out the time element . the result is an elegant solution that appears to neatly categorize patients . in practice , a standard pet may involve an entire eight to twelve hour night exchange with 3 . 86 % or 2 . 27 % glucose solution preceding the test exchange , if it includes a kinetic analysis of the patient &# 39 ; s membrane . this is not strictly necessary to determine the patient &# 39 ; s membrane transport status . one technique is to then drain the abdomen completely over a twenty - minute period , and then infuse about two liters of 2 . 27 % glucose over a ten - minute period . to obtain the initial sample , the patient is turned side to side and 200 ml is drained immediately after infusion , including a ten - ml sample for glucose , urea and creatinine . the remaining 190 ml is then returned for the dwell and this sampling procedure is repeated at several intervals , such as thirty minutes , one hour , two hours and three hours , each with a drain and a subsequent two - liter infusion . after the two hour sample is taken , a blood sample is also taken for tests for blood urea nitrogen (“ bun ”) and creatinine . a final infusion and dwell is taken at the four - hour mark , followed by a drain and a measurement of total effluent volume . once the above measurements are taken , the d / d 0 glucose and d / p creatinine results are used in a chart similar to those described above to classify the patient &# 39 ; s peritoneal membrane in one of the four categories . this procedure takes a long time to accomplish and does not quickly yield the desired results . since 1989 , many attempts have been made to devise faster pet tests , but the method described above is still widely accepted and applied to assess peritoneal membrane function for peritoneal dialysis patients . adcock et al . suggested a faster method in which the initial glucose concentration and other intermediate samples were not measured , and used only the plasma sample and the last , four - hour time point . adcock et al ., clinical experience and comparative analysis of the standard and fast peritoneal equilibration tests ( pet ), advances in peritoneal dialysis , vol . 8 , pp . 59 - 61 ( 1992 ). la milia suggested a method in which the standard four - hour dwell is replaced with a one hour dwell using a 3 . 86 % glucose solution , but still required the blood sample . la milia et al ., mini peritoneal equilibration test : a simple and fast method to assess free water and small solute transport across the peritoneal membrane , kidney int &# 39 ; l 68 , pp . 840 - 846 ( 2005 ). the reality of classification schemes , however , is better depicted in fig2 . in studying about one - thousand patients for whom clinical data are available , it has been unexpectedly discovered that the above tests and the accepted categories do not correctly categorize about 40 % of patients . fig2 depicts the results of the survey for both the d / p and the d / d 0 axes . these data depict results using a standard pet as described above . approximately 40 % of the patient thus do not fit into any of the four categories . another way of saying this is that the long and involved pet procedure described above does not correctly classify about half of all patients . it is expected that the shorter pet &# 39 ; s discussed above will also misclassify or fail to classify at least about that percentage of patients . the present disclosure describes a new test , the simplified peritoneal equilibration test (“ s - pet ”), that is less labor intensive and uses what may be described as more effective sampling . the present disclosure also includes a variant of the s - pet , a “ fast ” peritoneal equilibration test (“ f - pet ”), as explained below . a peritoneal dialysis machine , such as a homechoice ® dialysis machine , is helpful in administering the test . in this test , samples of the dialysis fluid are taken for analysis of urea , creatinine and glucose content . no blood sample is taken and either 2 . 27 % glucose ( dianeal ™ 2 . 27 %) or 3 . 86 % glucose ( dianeal ™ 3 . 86 %) dialysis solution may be used . measurements may be taken initially , at thirty minutes and at the one , two and four hour marks . based on these tests , an estimate for a curve - fit is made for a final creatinine concentration in the dialysis fluid . tests may instead be based on only two or three readings , such as readings at four hours and eight hours , for example , or tests taken at one hour , two hours and eight hours . the reading at the start of the test may be taken as zero , for example , to spare the patient the discomfort and labor in taking what is likely the least - useful test . alternatively , other time points may be used . fig3 a to 3d depict graphically the result of tests for creatinine for the four categories of patients , including a blood sample . each of the graphs displays creatinine concentration test results plotted against the time period after infusion of the dialysis fluid . each graph also marks a plasma creatinine concentration taken at about two hours . the final point in each graph is an estimate of the equilibrium creatinine concentration for the patient using a standard curve - fitting program , such as excel ™ from microsoft corp ., redmond , wash ., u . s . a . or matlab ™ from the mathworks inc ., natick , mass ., u . s . a . in fig3 a , the dialysis fluid for a typical high transporter patient is seen to have a rapidly - growing concentration of creatinine . in this category of patients , the creatinine concentration reaches a maximum after about 4 to 5 hours . there is thus no benefit in creatinine removal after a dwell period of about 4 to 5 hours . the test result is achieved simply by infusing the patient and then removing a 10 ml sample at the intervals for which the dots are shown , at the test beginning and after 2 hours and 4 hours . a curve fit is then used to estimate a final or equilibrium concentration for the solute that would be achieved in a very long dwell time . a computer is useful in finding a curve fit for the data . as seen in fig3 a , the curve fit is excellent and a final estimate of about 8 mg / dl is very close to the four - hour measurement of about 7 . 5 mg / dl . at the time these tests were conducted , a blood plasma sample was also taken at about the 2 - hour mark for confirmation . the blood plasma sample for the high - transporter patient had a plasma creatinine concentration of about 8 . 5 mg / dl at the 2 - hour point . the plasma concentration samples taken and displayed at fig3 a to 3d confirm that the plasma concentration is inversely related to membrane transport speed , as expected . that is , as creatinine clearance decreases , more creatinine remains in the patient &# 39 ; s blood plasma . a similar result is seen in fig3 b , for patients who may be categorized as high - average transporters , that is , patients whose peritoneal membranes are somewhat less permeable than those of the high transporters . for these patients , the equilibrium concentration of creatinine is estimated at the end of the curve in fig3 b at about 7 mg / dl , which is very close to the 4 - hour sample concentration of about 6 . 5 mg / dl . a blood plasma sample showed a creatinine concentration of about 9 mg / dl , a little higher than the high transporter patients , indicating that less creatinine was removed from these patients than from the high transporter patients . fig3 c depicts results for patients with peritoneal membranes that may be categorized as low - average transporters . creatinine concentration in the 4 - hour sample was about 6 mg / dl , a little lower than that shown for the high - average transporters . however , the estimate for the equilibrium creatinine concentration was about 7 mg / dl , very close to that for the high - average transporters . the blood plasma sample shows significantly more creatinine , about 11 mg / dl , compared to high and high - average transporters . fig3 d depicts results for low - transporter patients , that is , those patients whose peritoneal membranes are least amenable to mass transfer . as fig3 d depicts , there is no rapid rise in creatinine concentration in the first four hours , compared with the other three categories of transporters . however , the concentration continues to rise over a longer period of time , with an eventual final estimate for the equilibrium concentration of about 7 . 5 mg / dl , which is close to low - average and high - average transporters . the blood plasma creatinine level at the two - hour mark was about 11 mg / dl , similar to low - average transporters , and significantly higher than patients with membranes classed as either high or high - average . thus , patients with peritoneal membranes classed as high or high - average are seen to have lower creatinine levels after two hours of dialysis than patients with low or low - average peritoneal membranes . fig3 a to 3d depict the rise of creatinine levels in spent dialysis fluid . if urea is used as the solute of interest , a similar series of curves would result . of course , glucose in the dialysis fluid would be expected to decrease , as the glucose is transported from the dialysis fluid across the peritoneal membrane and infuses into the blood of the patient . high transporters would be expected to see a rapid infusion of glucose , while low transporters would expect a slower infusion . since glucose is the osmotic agent in the dialysis fluid , the loss of glucose from the dialysis fluid lowers its effectiveness in providing the driving force for ultrafiltration . while conducting this work , it was discovered that the data depicted in fig3 a to 3d may be fit to a curve using the following equation : ( cd t − cd eq )=( cd 0 − cd eq ) e −( t / τ ) , where cd t is a concentration of the at least one substance at one of the separate times at which dialysis fluid samples are taken , cd eq is an equilibrium concentration of the at least one substance , cd 0 is an initial concentration of the at least one substance , t is the time a sample was taken and τ is an equilibration time constant that is representative of a transport property of a peritoneum or peritoneal membrane of the patient . cd eq and τ may be estimated using this equation and a curve fit program , based on the measure solute concentrations in the samples taken . the equilibrium concentration of the at least one substance in the dialysis fluid , cd eq , is taken as about equal to the concentration of the substance in the blood of the patient , that is , the equilibrium concentration of the solute in both the blood and the dialysis fluid . in the limited number of patients used in this work , the equilibration time constant for the four categories of transporters were found to be , respectively , 107 minutes , 175 minutes , 242 minutes and 406 minutes , for creatinine for high , high - average , low - average and low transporters , respectively . to determine a final set of numbers , clinical studies with larger numbers of patients should be conducted . time constants for glucose and urea are expected to be different . in one embodiment , the formula is made part of a computer software program , which is entered into a computer memory or placed onto a medium accessible to a computer for performing calculations necessary to derive the cd eq of the substance . the test results may be analyzed and graphed in a variety of ways to increase their utility and also to increase the confidence that the new test procedure performs as well as the longer , more arduous traditional pet . test results from blood plasma urea and creatinine , or other tests , may be used to supplement the results . while conducting the studies mentioned above for an improved peritoneal equilibration test , additional studies were conducted on how dialysis therapies are prescribed for peritoneal dialysis patients . as is well known to those with skill in dialysis , patient prescriptions are typically calculated using computers with suitable software , such as pdadequest ® or renalsoft ™ from baxter international inc ., deerfield , ill ., usa . the computer program may be run in two ways , calculating either an optimal therapy for a patient or a custom therapy for a patient . as is well known to those having skill in this art , calculating a peritoneal dialysis therapy includes calculating the parameters to be used for the therapy , e . g ., the materials and methods to be used in the therapy . these parameters may include therapy time and individual cycle times or portions thereof , such as a dwell time . the parameters may also include the concentration of glucose or other osmotic agent in the dialysis fluid . the parameters may also include the type of therapy , such as a tidal therapy , and if so , the percent fill used , e . g ., 75 % tidal therapy . note that some materials or methods may be used as inputs to a calculation ; in other calculations , the desired outcomes of a dialysis therapy may be specified and the needed inputs , e . g ., materials and methods calculated instead . in an optimal therapy , desired outcomes for a particular patient peritoneal dialysis therapy are input into a program , such as a desired ultrafiltration volume , a target urea clearance , a target creatinine clearance , and so forth . the user also inputs at least a few input parameters , such as a patient fill volume and optionally a glucose concentration or range , and also inputs an identifier for the patient . alternatively , the concentration of glucose or other osmotic agent may be calculated as an output . dialysis fluid is a limited resource , as is available time for the complete therapy for the patient . thus , computer programs typically use a range of possible therapy volumes , i . e ., the total volume of dialysis fluid to be used for a particular therapy . a therapy typically includes several cycles , including a fill , a dwell time within the patient &# 39 ; s peritoneal cavity , and a drain time . the sum of all the patient fill volumes for each cycle should sum up to the total volume for the therapy . by altering the desired inputs , an optimal therapy for a given patient can then be determined and prescribed , according to the specified outcome ( s ). in a custom therapy , on the other hand , dialysis conditions such as glucose concentration and patient kinetic parameters , and dialysis therapy parameters , such as materials and methods , are typically input into the computer , and the outcomes are then calculated . outcomes may include ultrafiltration volume , urea clearance , and so forth . by changing the input dialysis conditions and parameters , the changes in outcome can be varied and recorded . the therapy can then be adjusted for the desired outcome , and the necessary therapy prescribed . a patient with an acute or unplanned dialysis need is profoundly different from a typical patient being treated with peritoneal dialysis . with an acute or unplanned need , there is at least a possibility that the kidney function may be restored . there is also at least a possibility that peritoneal dialysis will suffice and that hemodialysis may not be needed at the moment . hemodialysis may be contraindicated , for example , for a trauma victim . in such a situation , it may be prudent to assume that the patient will benefit from peritoneal dialysis and to spend at least a short period of time to confirm the benefit by initiating peritoneal dialysis . in such a situation , normal treatment parameters of therapy volume and cycle time should not be considered , because of the urgency of the situation . thus , very high therapy volumes would not usually be considered because of economic and logistical considerations . very short cycle times would not ordinarily be considered because the rapid cycling is inconvenient for the patient . in an acute or unplanned situation , however , the patient is in urgent need of dialysis , and for at least a short period of time , it may be beneficial to calculate a therapy in which a dialysis outcome is maximized or optimized , regardless of the total therapy volume or the length of a single cycle . a single cycle includes a fill time , a dwell time , and a drain time . one or more cycles constitute a therapy , e . g ., a daily therapy for a patient . in such circumstances , it may also be advisable to ignore for a short period of time other considerations that are otherwise important for the long term survival of the patient . thus , in an acute or unplanned situation , the therapy temporarily ignore certain outcomes , such as glucose absorption , sodium removal or middle molecule clearances . normal parameters for calculating a peritoneal dialysis therapy include practical limits on therapy parameters . thus , for a simple therapy , available software will accept the desired treatment results and calculate a therapy time , a therapy volume and a cycle time based on typical limits , e . g ., a therapy of 9 to 10 hours including 4 to 7 cycles , using 10 to 16 liters of dialysis fluid , and cycle times that include at least an hour or two of dwell time . of course , a therapy time or other variables may also be specified at the start and used as an input parameter . it has now been unexpectedly discovered , using a standard three - pore model , that very short cycle times and higher dialysate volumes may help improve peritoneal dialysis outcomes . these outcomes include greater ultrafiltration volumes and higher clearance rates of small - molecule solutes from the peritoneum of the patient . thus , in calculating a peritoneal dialysis therapy , it may be desirable to perform the calculation without regard to the total therapy volume or the cycle times used . fig4 and 5 depict flowcharts for methods of performing these calculations , in all of which a digital computer is very useful . fig4 depicts a method for calculating an optimal therapy , in which desired outcomes are used to determine a therapy . data concerning a patient are input 41 , the data including , for example , a patient identifier , a patient age , a previous pet evaluation if available , and other pertinent medical or diagnostic information . if the patient &# 39 ; s membrane transport category is known , it may be input or a category selected 42 from among a group of accepted categories . alternatively , a default category , such as a high transporter may be used . desired therapy outcomes are then entered or selected 43 . these may include a therapy ultrafiltration volume , a urea or creatinine clearance , and so forth . in this embodiment , a total therapy time is also entered or selected 44 . in other embodiments , a concentration of glucose or other osmotic agent may be used as an input parameter , since dialysis fluid is commercially available with only a few osmotic agents and in only a few glucose concentrations . a fill volume suitable for the patient is then selected or entered 45 . the software then calculates 46 a therapy for the patient using a computer and without regard to at least one of a therapy volume and a cycle time for the therapy . cycle times are thus allowed to vary at will . the therapy volume will be the product of the fill volume multiplied by the number of cycles necessary to achieve the desired outcome . the flowchart of fig5 depicts how to calculate a custom therapy . in this method , data concerning a patient are input 51 , the data including , for example , a patient identifier , a patient age , a previous pet evaluation if available , and other pertinent medical or diagnostic information . if the patient &# 39 ; s membrane transport category is known , it may be input or a category selected 52 from among a group of accepted categories . alternatively , a default category , such as a high transporter , a high - average transporter , low - average transporter or a low transporter may be used . in one embodiment , a total time available or desired for the therapy is entered or selected 53 . an osmotic agent concentration 54 is then entered or selected , such as a glucose or dextrose percentage . a fill volume suitable for the patient is then selected or entered 55 . the software then calculates 56 therapy outcomes for the patient . these outcomes may include a therapy ultrafiltration volume , a urea clearance , a creatinine clearance , or other desired peritoneal dialysis result . fig6 and 7 depict test results for calculations using these disclosed methods . fig6 depicts a series of calculations of ultrafiltrate volume for an optimal therapy . fig6 is a graph of cycle time as an independent variable against a calculated resulting ultrafiltration volume in liters for the entire therapy , that is , for the total of all cycles in this particular therapy twelve - hour therapy . in fig6 , a series of optimal therapies were calculated using inputs of a high transporter patient , 2 . 27 % glucose dialysis solution , a fill volume of one liter and a therapy time of 12 hours . the program calculated the cycle times in minutes necessary to achieve a total therapy ultrafiltration volume in liters . the greatest ultrafiltration volume for a twelve - hour therapy is reached at a cycle time of about 22 minutes . this result could also be achieved with a custom therapy calculation , in which a series of desired ultrafiltration volumes , e . g ., one to two liters , is used to calculate the needed cycle times , in this case from about 10 to 90 minutes . if the patient has an acute or urgent need , the short cycle times will be preferred , especially those at about 20 to 25 minutes , as shown in fig6 . note that it is not necessary for the patient to have an acute need . these methods may used for any peritoneal dialysis patient with the understanding that these therapies are calculated on the basis of an urgent , short - term need and do not necessarily consider all possibilities , such as increased glucose absorption , potential deficiencies in sodium removal or middle molecule clearances . these therapies also may not include patient considerations , such as the discomfort involved in many short , successive fill and drain cycles and the lifestyle constraints caused by connection to the machine for extended periods to accommodate the many short cycles . fig7 depicts a graph of weekly urea clearance plotted against the cycle time used for another therapy , still including 2 . 27 % glucose solution . the urea clearance is maximized at a cycle time of about 18 minutes . this result may be achieved with an optimal therapy calculation using a series of the desired clearances as an input and calculating the resulting cycle times . alternatively , the same result may be achieved in a custom therapy calculation by inputting the possible cycle times and calculating the resultant urea clearances . fig8 depicts similar results for weekly creatinine clearance , with an optimized cycle time , that is , for maximum creatinine clearance , at about 18 minutes . those having skill in dialysis arts recognize that these cycle times are very short and unexpected , in comparison to typical peritoneal dialysis dwell times and cycle times of hours . while these results were achieved for helping patients with acute kidney needs , there is no reason to limit the application of these methods only to such patients . patients with peritoneal membranes having high transport properties will especially benefit from these results . for patients whose transport properties are unknown , peritoneal dialysis may be begun and if favorable results are achieved quickly , the therapy may continue . a standard or other pet test may be performed as desired , if necessary , to confirm that the patient is using the most beneficial therapy . it should be understood that various changes and modifications to the presently preferred embodiments described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art . such changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present subject matter and without diminishing its intended advantages . it is therefore intended that such changes and modifications be covered by the appended claims .
patients suffering from acute renal failure must be diagnosed and treated quickly so that a physician can confidently prescribe either peritoneal dialysis or hemodialysis . in one way of quickly treating the patients , software is used to calculate a suitable peritoneal dialysis prescription without regard to how short or how long a dialysis cycle is used , and without regard to a total dialysate fluid volume for a therapy . for patients with suitable peritoneal membrane transport properties , the software program suggests that , at least over a short period of time , unexpectedly high ultrafiltrate volumes and high clearances may be achieved .