Biomedical Applications of Membranes

Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials, University of Calabria, Rende (CS), Italy 

Artificial membranes are used in medicine to treat blood for a broad variety of therapeutic purposes. In most treatments, blood is continuously withdrawn from the patient s blood circulation and brought in extracorporeal circulation into direct contact with the artificial membranes assembled in the device where solutes are permselectively removed from or supplied to it. The treated blood is then given back to the patient. Treatment sessions generally last a few hours and may have to be repeated a few times a week, sometimes for years. In Japan, more than 5000 uremic patients have been reported to be on hemodialysis for longer than 25 years (Patient Registration Committee, 2004). 

Advanced Membrane Technology and Applications. Edited by Norman N. Li, Anthony G. Fane, W. S. Winston Ho, and T. Matsuura Copyright 2008 John Wiley Sons, Ihc. 

In this chapter, the state-of-the-art artifleial membranes used in cUnically established blood treatment processes is reviewed. Information on medical membrane preparation and surface modification is often not disclosed. For this reason, the typical feamies of commercial medical membranes will be reported as provided by the manufacturers. The criteria that have driven membrane development will also be discussed to inform membranologists about what is currently available commercially and the opportunities for further development in selected medical treatments. Proper consideration is given to the influence of membrane-blood interactions on membrane performance and the therapeutic success of a membrane-based treatment. Membranes used in accessories for the above treatments or for related pharmaceutical purposes are not considered. 

Membranes have been used in clinics for therapeutic purposes since 1943, when Kolff successfully treated a uremic patient with his rotating dmm membrane dialyzer (Kolff and Berk, 1943). Nowadays, hemodialysis, hemofiltration, hemodiafiltration, therapeutic apheresis, and gas exchange during cardiopulmonary bypass surgery have become clinically established treatments. In the following, feamres and therapeutic objectives of these treatments are briefly presented. 

---

Starodub et al. [98] studied different constructions and biomedical applications of immunosensors based on fiberoptic and enhanced CL. They discussed three different approaches of immobilization of one of the immunocomponents on the fiberoptic surface. Good results could be achieved by the use of a special membrane closely connected to the fiberoptic, with sensitivities compared to that obtained by the ELISA method but with a faster rate of analysis. The sensor was... 

Polysulfone hollow fibers, composite, 76 17 Polysulfone membranes, 75 811 Polysulfones, 70 202-204 properties of, 70 204t Polysulfone ultrafiltration hollow-fiber membrane, 76 4 Polyfsulfonic acid)s, 23 717-725 biomedical applications of, 23 722-723 uses for, 23 717... 

Application of membrane reactors for degradation of organic compounds via photocatalysis, treatment of wastewater, production of bioactive high added value compounds, and biomedical treatments are discussed. 

Jakubowska, N., Polkowska, Z., Namiesnik, J., Przyjazny, A. Analytical applications of membrane extraction for biomedical and environmental liquid sample preparation. Crit. Rev. Anal. Chem. 35, 217-235 (2005)... 

Cellulose esters have been put to use in many biomedical applications. Hemodialysis membranes used in purification of blood, for patients with renal failure have employed... 

There are a number of excellent membrane-related textbooks and reference books available. However, most of these books treat only certain aspects of membrane science and technology in depth while other features related to membranes are only briefly mentioned or not covered at all. The fundamentals of membrane functions and membrane processes are described in detail in a number of publications in the membrane-related literature. The application of membranes, however, is much less comprehensively covered in such books. A large number of interesting membrane applications in the food and drug industry, electrochemical synthesis or biomedical treatment, and energy conversion are published in journals specific for certain industries, which are beyond the interest of many membrane scientists. Therefore, as mentioned earlier, it is difficult to obtain a reasonably complete overview of the very large and heterogeneous field... 

My recent research interest (1970-1975) has been concentrated into the biomedical applications of polymers for instance, artificial trachea made of collagen-coated polymer membrane. To improve biocompatibility of the material surface, soluble... 

Liposomes provide simplified models for bacterial and mammalian cell membranes, although they underestimate several factors such as cell walls and lipopolysaccharides in bacterial cell membranes. However, our results from membrane disruption activities of amphiphilic polymers built a strong foundation for structure-property relationships of these materials and warrant further exploration of antibacterial activities as well as any other relevant biomedical application of these polymeric materials. 

Ikada Y. Biomedical applications of cellulose membranes. Idem. p. 447- 55. 

---