A comparative study of the functional parameters and efficiency of the various types of hemodialyzers

number: 
3192
English
Degree: 
Author: 
Farah Mohanad Abdul-Kareem
Supervisor: 
Dr. Albert E. Yousif
year: 
2014
Abstract:

Hemodialysis is a widely used clinical therapy for patients with renal failure .The dialysis membranes are vital components of a hemodialysis unit, in which the treatment actually takes place, and where the blood is freed from the waste products. It forms the meeting point of two circuits, one in which the blood circulates and the other in which dialysis fluid flows. Therefore, despite the many technological advances in the field, dialysis does not completely replace normal kidney functions but rather serves as a substitute. The present work, was intended to compare the efficiency by making a comparative study between the operational parameters such as clearance, resistance, permeability (which means efficiency with removing molecules of small molecular weight while with removing molecules of middle or large molecular weight it means flux), area, time, and clearance ratio (extraction ratio). The most desirable properties of a hemodialysis membrane are high mass transfer of toxic solutes to reduce the dialysis time, blood compatibility and limited protein adsorption capacity; where this is achieved in the hollow fiber dialyzer in which its mass transfer is very high (0.0602 cm/min with area 2.1 m²) and for parallel plate (0.0132 cm/min with area 2.1 m²) and for twin coil dialyzer (0.00732 cm/min with area 1.9m²). The overall performance of the dialyzer is expressed as the clearance, analogous to that of a natural kidney. Each type of dialyzer has certain optimum operating requirements. The rate of clearance of substances such as urea, creatine, etc. from the blood during passage through an artificial kidney is dependent upon the rate of the blood flow, dialysate flow and dialyzer surface area. As the flow rate falls, there is a disproportionate fall in clearance. But the clearance value increases with increasing flow and surface area. This value is higher for hollow fiber than those for Kiil and Kolff dialyzer. However, the treatment time was found to be about almost half the time for the hollow fiber as compared to the other two types of dialyzers. This time factor is extremely important for the patient endurance and comfort.