Technique for using a dialysis machine to disinfect a blood tubing set

A dialysis machine usable for both dialyzing blood of a patient in a dialysis treatment and disinfecting a contaminated blood tubing set following use of the blood tubing set in the dialysis treatment, the blood tubing set having an arterial line and a venous line and adapted to be connected to a blood chamber of a dialyzer used during the dialysis treatment, said dialysis machine further including a dialysate supplying system for supplying dialysate solution through a dialysate flow path to a dialysate chamber of the dialyzer during the dialysis treatment, said dialysis machine further comprising:

• a waste drain adapted to be connected to one of the arterial line and the venous line of the blood tubing set following the dialysis treatment;
• a disinfectant supplying system for preparing a disinfectant solution and supplying the disinfectant solution in a disinfectant flow path which is separate and isolated from the dialysate flow path, the disinfectant solution not being suitable for use as the dialysate solution;
• a disinfection port connected in the disinfectant flow path and adapted to be connected to the other one of the arterial and venous lines of the blood tubing set following the dialysis treatment, said disinfection port adapted to conduct the disinfectant solution from the disinfectant flow path to said other one of the arterial and venous lines;
• and
• a pump to pump the disinfectant solution from the disinfection port through the arterial and venous lines of the blood tubing set and to the waste drain;
• and wherein:
• the separate and isolated disinfectant flow path preserves the dialysate solution and the dialysate flow path in condition for immediate resumption of another dialysis treatment using a new blood tubing set after disinfecting the previous blood tubing set and without cleaning and disinfecting the dialysate flow path before connecting the new blood tubing set into the dialysate flow path.