JPS6348549B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention stores a hollow fiber bundle constituted by bundling a large number of hollow fibers in a housing, and provides fluid between the fluid inside the hollow fibers and the fluid outside the hollow fibers. The present invention relates to a fluid separation device that performs selective mass transfer through the walls of hollow fibers, and is particularly useful for blood purification by dialysis.

With the advent of hollow fiber type membranes, hemodialysis
Although dialyzers have become smaller and their performance has improved, it is still not enough. For example, when hollow fibers are bundled parallel to each other in a cylindrical tube, as is done in normal hemodialyzers, the membranes in the center behave differently from the membranes in the outer edge, and the dialysate flows in the center in particular. is not refluxed due to the resistance of the hollow fiber bundle, resulting in a significant drop in efficiency. Furthermore, since the membrane resistance on the dialysate side is large, the dialysis efficiency decreases.

In order to improve these drawbacks, the present inventors
As a result of various studies, we have arrived at the present invention.

That is, the gist of the present invention is to provide a hollow fiber membrane bundle in which a large number of hollow fiber membranes are bundled together, a fixing member for keeping both ends of the hollow fiber membranes open and fixing the hollow fiber membrane bundle at the ends, and the hollow fiber membranes. A housing for storing a hollow fiber membrane bundle, in which an inlet and an outlet for blood communicating with the open end of the membrane, and at least a portion corresponding to the lateral direction of the hollow fiber membrane bundle are made of a soft or elastic polymeric material; Mechanical means for applying intermittent repeated compressive force disposed on the outside of the housing at a portion corresponding to the lateral direction of the hollow fiber membrane bundle, the fixing member, the outer surface of the hollow fiber membrane, and the inner surface of the housing. A blood purification device having a dialysate chamber formed by a dialysate chamber and an inlet and an outlet for the dialysate provided in the housing and communicating with the dialysate chamber.

The hollow fibers used in the present invention are those of regenerated cellulose type, cellulose acetate type, polymethyl methacrylate type, copolymer type of vinyl alcohol and ethylene, porous polyolefin type, etc., which are usually used for dialysis. The hollow fiber bundle is shown in Figure 1.
It may be bent into a U-shape as shown in Figure 2, the two ends glued together using resin, and then fixed to a hard plate 8, or the parallel fibers can be bent as shown in Figures 3 and 4. Both ends of the bundle may be adhered with resin, and both ends may be fixed to a hard plate, respectively.

In the device of the present invention, at least a portion of the housing 6 that accommodates the hollow fiber bundle 5 in the lateral direction of the hollow fiber bundle must be made of a soft or elastic polymeric material. For example, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a bag-shaped soft housing 6 is joined to a hard plate part 8 to which both ends of the hollow fiber bundle 5 are fixed, or as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, A soft or elastic cylindrical member 6 is joined between hard plates 8 to which both ends of the hollow fiber bundle are fixed.

Examples of these soft or elastic polymer materials include polyethylene, polypropylene,
Soft polyvinyl chloride, polyamide, polyester, synthetic rubber, natural rubber, etc. are used, and the housing is formed by gluing, molding, etc. bag-like, tubular film-like materials, etc. Furthermore, a composite material made by laminating fabrics such as knitted fabrics and woven fabrics may be used as the reinforcing material. The fabric may not only be bonded together, but may also simply cover the housing of the polymeric material.

In general usage, a liquid such as blood to be purified is introduced into the hollow fiber from 1 in Figures 1 to 4,
Liquid such as blood purified by dialysis is returned to the body through the outlet 2.

The dialysate is introduced into the housing through 3 and discharged through 4 (the reverse is also possible). Low molecular weight solutes (urea, creatinine, low molecular weight ions, etc.) in a liquid such as blood inside the hollow fibers are transferred into the dialysate through the hollow fiber membrane, and the liquid such as blood is purified.

When using the apparatus of the present invention, a compressive force is repeatedly applied intermittently to a portion of the housing made of a soft or elastic polymeric material that corresponds to the lateral direction of the hollow fiber bundle. As a result, the dialysate in the housing is disturbed and the hollow fiber bundle is also agitated, so the difference in dialysis efficiency between the center and outer edge of the hollow fiber bundle is eliminated.
It is also possible to prevent the so-called channeling phenomenon from occurring.
In addition, the turbulence of the dialysate reduces membrane resistance on the dialysate side, making it possible to significantly improve dialysis efficiency.

In order to fully obtain such an effect, it is not preferable to repeatedly apply compressive force at too long a time interval, so it is desirable to repeatedly apply compressive force at a rate of, for example, 20 times/minute or more. In order to repeatedly apply compressive force, mechanical force may be applied using a vibrating rod 7 that reciprocates as shown in Figs. 1 to 4, or it may simply be applied manually to the module as shown in Fig. 5. Pressure may be applied intermittently. Also, 1st to 5th
It is also possible to apply periodic compressive force by placing at least a portion of the device shown in the figure corresponding to the side wall in a closed container and varying the pressure of the gas within the container.

The device of the present invention significantly improves the efficiency of blood purifiers in particular, making it possible to downsize the purifier and shorten the dialysis time, which has great effects.

Example 1 Hollow fibers manufactured by ENKA Granzstoff AG
Using Cuprophane D-4, a parallel fiber bundle-type module with a membrane area of 1 m ² consisting of 8,500 hollow fibers as shown in Fig. 3 was prototyped. A soft polyvinyl chloride pipe is used as the outer cylinder 6, a hard polyvinyl chloride cap 8 is attached to this, and the
Cuprophane fiber bundles were adhesively fixed using polyurethane adhesive.

As a blood model fluid, urea 0.1%, vitamin
B ₁₂ 0.0025% saline added QB=200
The mixture was refluxed into the hollow fiber at a rate of ml/min. Dialysate is QD=
Introduced into the housing from inlet 3 at 500ml/min,
It was discharged from outlet 4. A compression device 7 applies a periodic compression force with an amplitude of 10 mm at a cycle of 80 times/minute. The clearance in this case is shown in Table 1. Furthermore, as a comparative example, Table 1 also shows the clearance when no periodic compressive force was applied.

Table 1 Clearance (ml/min) Urea Vitamin B ₁₂ Examples 169 45 Comparative Example 135 34

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of an apparatus used in the method of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of another example used in the method of the present invention. 4 and 5 are perspective views of still other examples used in the method of the present invention. 1... Blood inlet (or outlet), 2... Blood outlet (or inlet), 3... Dialysate inlet, 4... Dialysate outlet, 5
...Hollow fiber, 6. Soft or elastic polymer material, 7. Vibration rod, 8. Hard housing material.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A hollow fiber membrane bundle made up of a large number of hollow fiber membranes, a fixing member that keeps both ends of the hollow fiber membranes open and fixes the hollow fiber membrane bundle at the ends, and communicates with the open ends of the hollow fiber membranes. A housing for housing a hollow fiber membrane bundle, in which a blood inlet and an outlet, at least a portion corresponding to the side direction of the hollow fiber membrane bundle, is made of a soft or elastic polymeric material, a side of the hollow fiber membrane bundle; a mechanical means for applying an intermittent repetitive compressive force disposed on the outside of the housing of the direction equivalent part;
A blood purification device having a dialysate chamber formed by the fixing member, the outer surface of the hollow fiber membrane, and the inner surface of the housing, and a dialysate inlet and outlet provided in the housing and communicating with the dialysate chamber. .