Certain investigations on the performance of hemodialyser membrane based on morphological characteristics and modeling and simulation techniques

Abstract

Hemodialysis is the most widely used Renal Replacement Therapy newlinefor the treatment of failed kidneys. In the event of kidney failure, the newlineunwanted substances that accumulate in the blood needs to be excreted. newlineIncreased acid levels and abnormal levels of Urea, Creatinine, Glucose, newlineEndothelin, and#1049109;2-Microglobulin and Complement Factor D indicate the newlinemalfunctioning of the kidneys. Serum urea and creatinine are the two main newlinebiomarkers that assess the performance of the human kidneys. The newlinehemodialyser known as the Artificial kidney is the replacement of the newlinenatural kidney and is the heart of the hemodialyser machine. The dialyser newlinemodule comprises of thousands of hollow fibers which act as the newlinesemipermeable membrane to filter the impurities from the blood. The newlineperformance of the dialyser is dictated by the membrane design and chemical newlinecomposition. One of the main challenges in hemodialyser membrane design is newlineto enhance the clearance rate of solutes. The main objective of this thesis is to newlineinvestigate the factors affecting the performance of the hemodialyser and to newlineenhance its filtering efficiency. Morphological studies were performed to newlineunderstand the structural details of the hollow fiber membrane, as the newlinestructure decides the performance of the membrane. Computer aided newlinemodeling and simulation techniques help to analyse the critical parameters newlinethat affect the dialysis process and identify the means to enhance the filtering newlineefficiency. newline newline