| [ Summary ] |
Since ultrafiltration provides an alternative pass for removal of solutes from the blood stream, high hydraulic permeability is necessary as well as high diffusive permeability. For this reason, polysulfone (PS) membranes have become one type of clinically popular material for dialysis membranes. The author tested one PS dialyzer with smaller hollow fiber diameter in vitro (aqueous/bovine blood) with special attention being paid to "internal filtration", ultrafiltration and reverse filtration as observed in one dialyzer, for removing solutes. Results showed that the higher the blood and dialysate flow rates, the more the clearance, due to the internal filtration. Module design is crucial for larger fluid exchanges with internal filtration. Hemodialysis with internal filtration, may be considered as a form of limited scale on line hemodiafiltration with no additional hardware, which may be possible with PS or other high flux membranes when highly purified dialysate fluid is prepared. |