A user-friendly tool to convert photon counting data to the open-source Photon-HDF5 file format.

Overview

There are nearly half a million people requiring hemodialysis, with approximately 100,000 new cases of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) on an annual basis. There are multiple types of arteriovenous (AV) hemodialysis access. In 2003, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the ESRD networks developed an initiative called the Fistula First Initiative. The results of this program aimed to reduce the increasing cost burden of hemodialysis frequently associated with complications secondary to access. Of the types of AV access, autogenous AV access has higher patency rates, a low risk of complications compared to prosthetic arteriovenous accesses, and a lower risk of infection compared to temporary central venous catheters (CVC). The initiative's goals were to raise the use of AV access at the initiation of dialysis. A thorough preoperative workup is imperative to establishing long-term hemodialysis access (See Image. Arteriovenous Fistula).