| Budget Amount *help |
¥1,800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,800,000)
Fiscal Year 1986: ¥600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000)
Fiscal Year 1985: ¥1,200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000)
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| Research Abstract |
Techniques of membrane plasma separation consist of the microfiltration method in which a pressure-driven membrane process is used to separate plasma from blood in therapeutic and donor apheresis. The objective of the present study is to develop inorganic membranes for plasma separation.
1. Elution Test : Elution tests using either pure water, 1N nitric acid, 500ppm sodium hypochlorite or bovine plasma were made to elucidate the elution of membrane constitutes from the sintered ceramic and porous glass membranes tested, based on the Standards for Approval of Hemodialyzers, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Japan. Sintered ceramic membranes of aluminum oxide eluted fairly small amounts of membrane constituents. No elution of aluminum were found for porous glass membranes, while large amounts of boron and silicon were eluted with each test solution. After rinsing with nitric acid, boron and silicon were eluted in small amounts with pure water and in large amounts with bovine plasma. Surface modification is required to prevent the elution of boron and silicon from porous glass membranes.
2. Filtration Test : Porous glass membranes were developed for plasma separation. Porous glass membranes over 4x <10^(-7)> m in pore diameter and over 40% in porosity were practically equal to polymer membranes in filtration characteristics. No hemolysis was observed for any porous glass membranes even at elevated transmembrane pressures. Rinsing with chemicals allowed complete and repeated regeneration of fouled membranes. This is a major advantage compared to polymer membranes. Maximal filtrate flux was obtained for membranes with a pore diameter of 1x <10^(-6)> m at a transmembrane pressure of 13.3 kPa and a wall shear rate of 2000 <s^(-1)> , which was about four times that of polymer membranes.
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