Liquid membranes toxin removal from blood

Operationally, dialysis (cf. Section 8.2) utilizes differences in the diffusion rates of various substances across a membrane between two liquid phases. The diffusivities of substances in the membrane and liquid phases (particularly the former) decrease with increasing molecular sizes of the diffusing substances. Thus, with any hemodialyzer, the rates of removal of uremic toxins from the blood will decrease with increasing molecular size, although sharp separation at a particular molecular weight is difficult. In contrast, proteins (e.g., albumin) should be retained in the patient s blood. In the human kidney, small amounts of albumin present in the glomerular filtrate are reabsorbed in the proximal tubule. 

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