Abstract
Developing highly-efficient membranes for toxin clearance in small-format hemodialysis presents a fabrication challenge. The miniaturization of fluidics and controls has been the focus of current work on hemodialysis (HD) devices. This approach has not addressed the membrane efficiency needed for toxin clearance in small-format hemodialysis devices. Dr. Willem Kolff built the first dialyzer in 1943 and many changes have been made to HD technology since then. However, conventional HD still uses large instruments with bulky dialysis cartridges made of ~2 m2 of 10 micron thick, tortuous-path membrane material. Portable, wearable, and implantable HD systems may improve clinical outcomes for patients with end-stage renal disease by increasing the frequency of dialysis. The ability of ultrathin silicon-based sheet membranes to clear toxins is tested along with an analytical model predicting long-term multi-pass experiments from single-pass clearance experiments. Advanced fabrication methods are introduced that produce a new type of nanoporous silicon nitride sheet membrane that features the pore sizes needed for middle-weight toxin removal. Benchtop clearance results with sheet membranes (~3 cm2) match a theoretical model and indicate that sheet membranes can reduce (by orders of magnitude) the amount of membrane material required for hemodialysis. This provides the performance needed for small-format hemodialysis.
Highlights
In 2017, the incidence of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in the United States was over 124,000 and more than 61% of these ESRD patients used hemodialysis (HD) for renal replacement therapy [1].ESRD patient mortality has remained nearly the same for twenty years, with no significant change (
We present the fabrication of the nanoporous silicon nitride (NPN) sheet membranes, which builds on the previously reported fabrication of chip-based NPN membranes [13] along with an analytical model for predicting the results of long-term continuous dialysis of a fluid volume from the results of short-term single-pass experiments. This model will enable the rapid development of fluidic systems to optimize for clearance while reducing the potential for hemolysis from excessive sheer forces
This process required the patterning of a negative photo resist (SU8 3010; Microchem Corp., Westborough, MA, USA) support matrix onto the membrane to improve structural integrity during transfer to the dialyzer devices
Summary
ESRD patient mortality has remained nearly the same for twenty years, with no significant change (
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