Paper Title
Experimental Evaluation Of Flow Distribution In The Blood Compartment Of Hollow Fiber Dialyzers By Medical Imaging Techniques: An Evidence-Based Review

Abstract
Flow distribution analysis in a dialyzer is highly essential for developing the dialysis process or the design of the dialyzer structure. Medical imaging techniques such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Computed Tomography (CT), Positron Emission Tomography (PET), Scintigraphy and Ultrasound have been widely used as the evaluation tool for the flow distribution in several mediums. Moreover, studying of the functional behavior of the hollow fiber dialyzers has long been a concern by means of various medical imaging techniques. Therefore, this evidence-based review was aimed to investigate the recent such medical imaging approaches in experimental settings that evaluate the flow distribution in the blood compartment of hollow fiber dialyzers. To identify the pertinent studies, a comprehensive search was undertaken in PubMed and Google Scholar electronic databases from their inception until July 2015 with selected common keywords regarding the blood compartment flow distribution, dialyzers and medical imaging techniques. Relevant studies were screened according to the predefined inclusion criteria. The results of this study demonstrate that medical imaging techniques can be successfully applied to evaluate the blood compartment flow distribution in dialyzers. Furthermore, this revealed that the majority of the selected previous studies was utilized CT imaging technique with densitometry analysis to evaluate the flow distribution within the hollow fibers. Keywords- Hollow Fiber Dialyzers, Medical Imaging Techniques, Blood Compartment Flow Distribution