Mass transfer mechanisms in high-performance membrane dialyzers

Abstract

Four dialyzers with super-high-flux membrane or high-performance membrane (HPM) with varying packing density of the hollow fiber (PDF) from 29.6 to 53.1% were investigated in aqueous in vitro experiments for the purpose of identifying the mass transfer mechanism for three test solutes. Clearances for relatively small test solutes (creatinine and vitamin B(12)) slowly increased with PDF and reached plateau since mass transfer mechanism of these solutes was diffusion limited. However, since unlike classic high-flux dialyzers a considerable amount of internal filtration ( > 20 ml/min) should occur in super-high-flux dialyzers even under relatively reduced blood and dialysis fluid flow rates, Q(B) = 200 ml/min and Q(D) = 500 ml/min, it should contribute to enhance the rate of mass transfer especially for those solutes that cannot be easily removed by diffusion, such as β(2)-microglobulin or even larger toxic substances. For dialyzers with the HPM a module design becomes even more important for developing novel commercial products.