KR20170077666A - Nonwoven Fabric for Blood Filter, Method for Manufacturing The Same and Blood Filter Comprising The Same - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a nonwoven fabric for a blood filter, which has permanent hydrophilicity to improve the filtration performance of the blood filter, and which has no risk such as polymer elution during the filtration process, a manufacturing method thereof, and a blood filter including the same. Blood filter nonwoven fabric of the present invention, comprising a plurality of fibers at least some of the fibers have a modified surface by vacuum plasma treatment with a N ₂ H ₂ gas.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a nonwoven fabric for a blood filter, a method of manufacturing the same, and a blood filter including the same. BACKGROUND ART [0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a nonwoven fabric for a blood filter, a method for producing the same, and a blood filter including the same. More specifically, the present invention relates to a nonwoven fabric for a blood filter having permanent hydrophilicity, The present invention relates to a nonwoven fabric for a blood filter having no risk, a method for producing the same, and a blood filter including the same.

When blood or red blood cell concentrates containing white blood cells are transfused, side effects such as headache, vomiting, chills, fever, virus infection, and allogeneic antigen sensitization may occur. In order to prevent such side effects, it is necessary to remove the white blood cells present in the blood to be transfused before transfusion.

Among the methods for removing leukocytes from the blood include a centrifugal separation method in which white blood cells are separated by rotating the blood at a high speed, a filter method in which leukocytes are adsorbed and separated by allowing the blood to pass through the filter, There is a method of text to inhale and remove the separated white blood cell layer. Among them, a filter method having excellent leukocyte separation performance, easy operation and low cost is widely used.

These blood filters must meet various requirements. First, the blood filter should be able to treat large volumes of blood in a short time to prevent the blood from clotting. Second, the blood filter should have a high leukocyte removal rate to prevent the side effects mentioned above. Third, the blood filter must pass smoothly through the blood without damaging other useful components in the blood, such as red blood cells.

Korean Patent No. 1441165 discloses a blood filter in which a hydrophilic polymer is coated on a meltblown nonwoven fabric to impart a high blood affinity to thereby increase the blood throughput per unit time and improve leukocyte removal performance and red blood cell recovery rate .

However, one of the problems that can be caused by coating the hydrophilic polymer on the nonwoven fabric is the elution of the hydrophilic polymer. In particular, in the case of treating a large amount of blood as in the case of extracorporeal circulation, the risk of dissolution of the hydrophilic polymer is so great that the safety of the patient can not be guaranteed.

Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a nonwoven fabric for a blood filter, a method of manufacturing the same, and a blood filter including the same, which can prevent problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.

One aspect of the present invention is to provide a nonwoven fabric for a blood filter having permanent hydrophilicity so as to improve the filtration performance of the blood filter as well as having no risk such as polymer elution during the filtration process.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a nonwoven fabric for a blood filter having permanent hydrophilicity so as to improve the filtration performance of the blood filter as well as to eliminate any risk such as polymer elution during the filtration process.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a blood filter which has improved filtration performance and can ensure the safety of the patient from such risks as polymer elution.

Further features and advantages of the invention will be described hereinafter, and will in part be obvious from the description. Alternatively, other features and advantages of the invention may be learned through practice of the invention.

As one aspect of the invention, comprises a plurality of fibers, but at least some of the fibers are provided with a blood filter for non-woven fabric which is characterized by having a modified surface by vacuum plasma treatment with a N ₂ H ₂ gas.

Each of the fibers may comprise polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), or a mixture thereof.

The non-woven fabric for a blood filter may have a contact angle with water of 70 ° or less, preferably 55 ° or less, more preferably 20 ° or less.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a nonwoven fabric, comprising: preparing a plurality of nonwoven fabrics; And a method of making a blood filter for non-woven fabric is provided comprising the step of performing a vacuum plasma treatment with a N ₂ H ₂ gas with respect to the non-woven fabric.

N ₂ from the N ₂ H ₂ gas: H ₂ volume ratio of 90: 10 to 99: 1 may be.

The nonwoven fabric may be formed of PET, PBT, or a mixture thereof through a meltblown process.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a pretreatment filter for pretreating inflow blood; And a main filter for treating the blood pretreated with the pretreatment filter, wherein the pretreatment filter is a laminate of first nonwoven fabrics having an average fiber diameter of 5 to 30 mu m and an average pore diameter of 10 to 30 mu m, filter 1 to 5 ㎛ average fiber diameter and a laminated body of the second non-woven fabric having an average pore diameter of from 5 to 10 ㎛ of the first nonwoven and the second at least one of the non-woven fabric is vacuum with N ₂ H ₂ gas plasma A hydrophilic nonwoven fabric comprising fibers having a modified surface through a treatment.

Each of the first and second nonwoven fabrics may comprise PET, PBT, or a mixture thereof.

The hydrophilic nonwoven fabric may have a contact angle with water of 70 ° or less, preferably 55 ° or less, more preferably 20 ° or less.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

According to the present invention, there is provided a nonwoven fabric for a blood filter, which is not coated with a hydrophilic polymer but exhibits high hydrophilicity.

Therefore, the blood filter made of the nonwoven fabric for a blood filter of the present invention not only can treat a large amount of blood per unit time due to its high blood affinity, but also exhibits improved leukocyte removal performance and erythrocyte recovery.

Further, since the nonwoven fabric for a blood filter of the present invention is not coated with a hydrophilic polymer, leukocytes can be safely removed without the risk of polymer elution.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the embodiments described below are provided for illustrative purposes only, and do not limit the scope of the present invention.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the present invention encompasses all changes and modifications that come within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

The nonwoven fabric for a blood filter of the present invention includes a plurality of fibers that are physically or chemically entangled with each other and have a three-dimensional structure, and the fibers are dispersed to form a plurality of pores. The nonwoven fabric made of short fibers having a three-dimensional structure has an advantage of having excellent filtering efficiency because of its wide surface area.

The fibers may be meltblown fibers or spunbond fibers, preferably meltblown fibers.

The fibers may be natural fibers such as cellulose or thermoplastic fibers. However, the nonwoven fabric made of natural fibers has a high affinity with blood, but has a high manufacturing cost, low physical properties, and low strength. Therefore, it is preferable that the nonwoven fabric of the present invention is made of a thermoplastic fiber which can be manufactured by melt spinning such as a spunbond process or a meltblown process, thereby realizing relatively uniform physical properties and having a relatively low manufacturing cost.

In particular, each of the fibers may preferably comprise polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), or mixtures thereof.

PET has the advantage that it has relatively good stiffness and atmosphere corrosion resistance, and the crystallization rate is not high, which facilitates emission control and enables uniform emission. The advantage of such a PET is essential in the production of a nonwoven fabric for a blood filter that requires strict control over the average pore diameter and average fiber diameter of the nonwoven fabric.

Since the nonwoven fabric made of PBT having a relatively high crystallization rate has excellent thermal dimensional stability as compared with the PET nonwoven fabric, there is an advantage that the average pore diameter and the average fiber diameter of the nonwoven fabric hardly change during the high temperature sterilization process of the blood filter .

By producing a nonwoven fabric with a mixture of PET and PBT, the advantages of PET, which facilitates control of the average pore diameter and the average fiber diameter, due to the relatively low crystallization rate, and the relatively high crystallization speed, You can take advantage of all of the benefits.

In summary, the nonwoven fabric of the present invention can be formed of PET, PBT, or a mixture thereof through a meltblown process or a spunbond process, preferably through a meltblown process.

On the other hand, if the affinity of the nonwoven fabric for blood filter for blood is too weak, the blood treatment time is too long to be practical. On the other hand, if affinity with blood is too strong, not only leukocytes but also red blood cells and platelets are adsorbed and removed. Thus, it is preferred that the nonwoven for a blood filter has a Critical Wetting Surface Tension (CWST) of 63 to 120 dyne / cm, preferably 80 to 110 dyne / cm.

The CWST was prepared by dropping a series of liquids whose surface tension varied in the range of 2 to 4 dyne / cm (mN / m) on a sample surface in the form of droplets, observing each droplet, . ≪ / RTI > CWST using a unit of dyne / cm is defined as the average of the surface tension of the absorbed liquid and the surface tension of the unabsorbed liquid. Liquids having a lower surface tension than the CWST of the nonwoven fabric spontaneously wet the nonwoven fabric upon contact with the nonwoven web. For example, a nonwoven fabric having a CWST lower than water having a surface tension of 72 dyne / cm is not wetted upon contact with water. Therefore, the CWST of the nonwoven fabric can be regarded as a measure of the hydrophilicity, and the higher the CWST, the higher the hydrophilicity of the nonwoven fabric.

If the CWST of the nonwoven fabric is less than 63, the affinity with the blood is too great and the blood treatment time is too long, so that the blood can be coagulated and the blood collides with the red blood cells and the fibers when the blood passes through the pores of the nonwoven web, The LDH (Lactate Dehydrogenase) level, which indicates the degree of damage of the erythrocyte sedimentation membrane, is increased. As a result, the erythrocyte life can be shortened sharply. On the other hand, when the CWST of the nonwoven fabric exceeds 120, it is impossible to obtain a blood product having a level of ingredients required in the industry due to adsorption of red blood cells and platelets.

However, nonwoven fabrics made of PET, PBT, or mixtures thereof can not exhibit the above range of CWST because they have a relatively low hydrophilicity. Therefore, separate measures for increasing the CWST to the above range are required.

As such a measure, the hydrophilic polymer coating layer can be formed on the surface of the nonwoven fabric (further, the surface of the fiber constituting the nonwoven fabric to be purified) by treating the nonwoven fabric with a blood affinity agent containing a hydrophilic polymer. However, as described above, when the hydrophilic polymer is coated on the nonwoven fabric, the problem of elution of the hydrophilic polymer may be caused. Especially, when treating a large amount of blood such as extracorporeal circulation, the risk of elution of such a hydrophilic polymer becomes greater, and thus the safety of the patient can not be guaranteed.

According to the present invention, by performing the vacuum plasma treatment using N ₂ H ₂ gas on the nonwoven fabric, PET, PBT, or a mixture thereof can be produced without causing problems such as elution of the hydrophilic polymer, CWST of the resulting nonwoven fabric can be increased to the range of 63 to 120 dyne / cm. That is, according to the present invention, at least some of the fibers constituting the nonwoven fabric have a modified surface through a vacuum plasma treatment using N ₂ H ₂ gas.

Even when a vacuum plasma treatment using N ₂ H ₂ gas is performed instead of coating a blood affinity agent including a hydrophilic polymer, a nonwoven fabric for a blood filter having a high hydrophilicity satisfying a CWST of 63 to 120 dyne / cm can be provided The results of the experiment revealed that.

The hydrophilicity of the nonwoven fabric for a blood filter can be evaluated by measuring the contact angle with water. Typical PET / PBT non-woven fabric is 72 dyne / cm The contact angle with water having a surface tension exceeding 80 ° but (i.e., hydrophobic, but), non-woven fabric of the present invention, a vacuum plasma process using N ₂ H ₂ gas in the water The contact angle is 70 DEG or less, preferably 55 DEG or less.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the N ₂ : H ₂ volume ratio of the N ₂ H ₂ gas used in the vacuum plasma treatment is from 90:10 to 99: 1. By subjecting the nonwoven fabric to a vacuum plasma treatment with N ₂ H ₂ gas having a N ₂ : H ₂ volume ratio in this range, a nonwoven fabric for a blood filter with a contact angle to water of not more than 20 ° can be produced.

The rate at which the nonwoven fabric passes through the vacuum plasma chamber through the roll-to-roll process can be from 1 to 10 m / min, the total amount of N ₂ H ₂ gas filling the chamber can be from 2000 to 4900 sccm, The reduced RF power may be 750 to 1200 watts. The larger the total amount of N ₂ H ₂ gas in the chamber, the greater the RF power may be applied.

Therefore, the blood filter manufactured using the nonwoven fabric for a blood filter of the present invention not only can treat a large amount of blood per unit time due to high blood affinity, but also exhibits improved leukocyte removal performance and red blood cell recovery rate. Further, since the nonwoven fabric for a blood filter of the present invention is not coated with a hydrophilic polymer, leukocytes can be safely removed without the risk of polymer elution.

Hereinafter, a blood filter according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

The blood filter of the present invention includes a pretreatment filter and a main filter.

The pretreatment filter is a laminate of the first nonwoven fabrics and performs a pretreatment for removing macroaggregate due to aggregation of blood cells, which may occur during transport and storage of blood, from the blood flowing into the blood filter.

The main filter is a laminate of second nonwoven fabrics and removes white blood cells from the blood from which large particles have been removed by the pre-treatment filter.

The first and second nonwoven fabrics in which continuous or discontinuous fibers formed of PET, PBT, or a mixture thereof are entangled with each other to form a three-dimensional network structure can be produced by a melt spinning method, preferably a meltblown method. Due to the small fiber diameter, the first and second nonwoven fabrics may have a large surface area and exhibit excellent filtration efficiency.

The first nonwoven fabric for the pretreatment filter has an average fiber diameter of 5 to 30 mu m and an average pore diameter of 10 to 30 mu m.

When the average fiber diameter of the first nonwoven fabric is less than 5 mu m, the strength of the fiber is weak and soft, so that the nonwoven fabric is squeezed by filtration due to the free fall of blood, the gap between adjacent fibers becomes narrow, There arises a problem that it rapidly increases. On the other hand, when the average fiber diameter of the first nonwoven fabric exceeds 30 탆, the surface area of the fiber filled for filtration decreases, and the chance of contact with the blood cells is reduced.

If the average pore diameter of the first nonwoven fabric is less than 10 mu m, large particles including leukocyte can not pass through the first nonwoven fabric, and blood cells are excessively collected in the first nonwoven fabric, shortening the filtration life. On the other hand, when the average pore diameter of the first nonwoven fabric exceeds 30 탆, since the large particles including leukocyte are selectively filtered to the second nonwoven fabric, the life of the second nonwoven fabric is shortened, There is an infinitely increased problem.

As described above, the first nonwoven fabric may be manufactured through a meltblown method. That is, the first nonwoven fabric may be prepared by melting PET, PBT, or a mixture thereof to prepare a first dope, spinning the first dope through a first die to form a first fiber, And collecting the first fiber on a first collector. At this time, the distance from the first die to the first collector (DCD) may be 200 mm or more.

The first dope radiating step includes ejecting the first dope through a nozzle of the first die and injecting high temperature and pressure air into the second dope immediately before being ejected through the nozzle . At this time, the angle between the nozzle and the air may be 30 to 120 °. In order to uniformly adjust the average fiber diameter and the average pore diameter, the angle between the nozzle and the air may be preferably 45 to 60 °.

According to the present invention, the second nonwoven fabric has an average fiber diameter of 1 to 3 mu m and an average pore diameter of 5 to 10 mu m.

If the average fiber diameter of the second nonwoven fabric constituting the main filter is less than 1 占 퐉, the pressure loss during filtration of the blood may be increased, and the weakness of the fibers may cause cutting of fibers and generation of fibers. The blood transfusion reaction may be caused by being included in the blood. On the other hand, when the average fiber diameter of the second nonwoven fabric exceeds 3 탆, the leukocyte removal rate may be lowered because the probability of the fibers contacting the leukocyte is lowered.

If the average pore diameter of the second nonwoven fabric is less than 5 mu m, erythrocytes having a size of 6 to 8 mu m can not pass smoothly through the main filter, the pressure loss is increased, blood treatment speed is remarkably decreased, and even clogging occurs, . ≪ / RTI > On the other hand, when the average pore diameter of the second nonwoven fabric exceeds 10 탆, the leukocyte removal rate of the blood filter may be lowered because leukocytes having a size of 12 to 25 탆 easily pass through the main filter.

Also, the second nonwoven fabric has a maximum pore diameter of 10 to 30 탆, preferably 10 to 15 탆, thereby selectively adsorbing only leukocytes and allowing red blood cells and platelets to pass therethrough.

Further, according to the present invention, the second nonwoven fabric has an average pore size distribution ratio of 30% or more, preferably 45% or more. The "average pore size distribution ratio" is a distribution ratio of an area having an average pore size in a pore size distribution graph measured by a Capillary Flow Porometer (product name: CFP-1100-AEL) manufactured by PMI Co., .

Since the second nonwoven fabric has an average pore size distribution ratio of 30% or more, the excellent leukocyte removal performance can be secured, while the filling density of the main filter with respect to the target blood throughput of the blood filter can be minimized. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the filling density of the main filter with respect to the target blood throughput of the blood filter is 1 to 3 g / 100 ml, preferably 1 to 2 g / 100 ml.

As described above, the second nonwoven fabric may be produced through a meltblown process. That is, the second nonwoven fabric may be prepared by melting PET, PBT, or a mixture thereof to prepare a second dope, spinning the second dope through a second die to form a second fiber, 2 < / RTI > collector. At this time, the distance (DCD) from the second die to the second collector may be 60 mm or less.

Wherein the second dope radiating step includes ejecting the second dope through a nozzle of the second die and injecting high temperature and pressure air into the second dope immediately prior to ejection through the nozzle . At this time, the angle between the nozzle and the air may be 45 ° to 60 °.

Hereinafter, the spinning steps of the first and second dope will be described in more detail.

As described above, the step of radiating the dope includes ejecting the dope through the nozzle of the die, and injecting the high-temperature, high-pressure air into the dope just before being ejected through the nozzle.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the spinning step is performed at 240 to 300 ° C, preferably 245 to 260 ° C, and the high-temperature and high-pressure air is 0.7 to 2 kgf / cm 2, preferably 0.8 to 1.5 kg f / cm < 2 >.

If the spinning temperature is less than 240 캜, the spinning temperature is too low to sufficiently stretch the fibers, the nonwoven fabric having a low average fiber diameter can not be obtained, and the binding force between the fibers collected on the collector is weakened, . On the other hand, if the spinning temperature is higher than 300 ° C, the bonding force between the fibers collected on the collector due to the excessive temperature becomes too strong, and voids having a proper pore size can not be formed, May not proceed smoothly.

 As the spinning temperature is increased within the range of 240 to 300 占 폚, the fibers are stretched more and the average fiber diameter of the nonwoven fabric becomes smaller. Therefore, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the spinning temperature applied in manufacturing the second nonwoven fabric for the main filter may be set to be higher than the spinning temperature applied in manufacturing the first nonwoven fabric for the pre-treatment filter.

On the other hand, when the air pressure is less than 0.7 kgf / cm 2, the fibers can not be sufficiently stretched to obtain a nonwoven fabric having a low average fiber diameter. On the other hand, when the pressure of the compressed gas exceeds 2 kgf / The fibers may be blown, and the nonwoven fabric bonded to the blood filter manufacturing can not be produced due to the occurrence of excessive hair.

As the air pressure is increased within the range of 0.7 to 2 kgf / cm2, the fibers are stretched more and the average fiber diameter of the nonwoven fabric becomes smaller. Therefore, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the pressure of the air applied during the manufacture of the second nonwoven fabric for the main filter is set to be higher than the pressure of the air applied at the time of manufacturing the first nonwoven fabric for the pre-treatment filter.

Generally, as the DCD increases, the moving distance of the air at high temperature and high pressure and the radiated fibers becomes longer, and the unevenness of the average pore diameter tends to increase due to decrease of the lamination uniformity of the fibers. Thus, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the DCD applied to the first nonwoven fabric for the pre-treatment filter is 200 mm or more, while the DCD applied to the second nonwoven fabric for the main filter is 60 mm or less.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the angle between the nozzle for ejecting the dope and the high-temperature and high-pressure air in the spinning step is set to 45 ° to 60 °.

When the angle is less than 45 °, the angle of the nozzle becomes sharp, so that it is difficult to mass-produce and control the nozzle due to impact due to the impact upon attachment and detachment of the nozzle. It is difficult to control the average pore diameter by orienting the fibers of the spinning nonwoven fabric in one direction, There is a problem that the filtration time is increased due to an increase in the pressure at the time of filtration. On the other hand, when the angle exceeds 60 °, the fibers radiated from the nozzle and the air of high temperature and high pressure form turbulence, which causes serious problems in controlling the average pore size.

On the other hand, the weight and the average thickness of the first and second nonwoven fabrics can be controlled by appropriately adjusting the radiation temperature, the air pressure, the DCD, and the angle between the nozzle and the air. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first nonwoven fabric for the pre-treatment filter has a weight of 30 to 70 g / m ² and an average thickness of 0.15 to 0.40 mm, and the second nonwoven fabric for the main filter has 10 to 40 g / m < ² > and an average thickness of 0.08 to 0.20 mm.

On the other hand, the fibers of the first and second nonwoven fabrics preferably each have a diameter variation coefficient of 30 CV% or less. The diameter variation coefficient is a percentage of the standard deviation with respect to the average fiber diameter. The diameter variation coefficient of 30 CV% or less can ensure a uniform blood flow throughout the first and second nonwoven fabrics, and as a result, excellent filtration efficiency and filtration performance can be constantly exhibited.

According to the present invention, at least one of the first nonwoven fabric and the second nonwoven fabric may be a hydrophilic nonwoven fabric including a fiber having a modified surface through a vacuum plasma treatment using N ₂ H ₂ gas.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the second nonwoven fabric for the main filter is vacuum plasma-treated using N ₂ H ₂ gas. That is, at least a portion of the fibers constituting the second nonwoven fabric have a modified surface through a vacuum plasma treatment using N ₂ H ₂ gas. Alternatively, a vacuum plasma treatment using N ₂ H ₂ gas may be performed on both of the first and second nonwoven fabrics.

As described above, by performing the vacuum plasma treatment using N ₂ H ₂ gas on the second nonwoven fabric, PET, PBT, or a mixture thereof can be obtained without causing the problem of safety of the patient such as elution of the hydrophilic polymer The CWST of the second non-woven fabric prepared from the second nonwoven fabric can be increased to a range of 63 to 120 dyne / cm. The hydrophilic second nonwoven fabric of the present invention has a contact angle with respect to water of 70 ° or less, preferably 55 ° or less.

Preferably, N _2: H ₂ volume ratio of 90: 10 to 99: 1 was the N ₂ H ₂ gas, by performing the vacuum plasma treatment, the contact angle with water of the second nonwoven fabric can be made of less than 20 ° .

The pre-treatment filter is completed by laminating the first nonwoven fabrics manufactured as described above. The filling density of the pretreatment filter with respect to the target blood throughput of the blood filter may be 0.1 to 1 g / 100 ml.

And the second nonwoven fabrics vacuum-plasma-treated with N ₂ H ₂ gas are laminated to complete the main filter. The filling density of the main filter with respect to the target blood throughput of the blood filter may be 1 to 3 g / 100 ml.

After the pretreatment filter and the main filter manufactured as described above are mounted in a case, the blood filter of the present invention is completed by sealing using an ultrasonic welding machine in order to prevent blood leakage.

Optionally, the blood filter can be sterilized at a temperature of 100 to 120 DEG C and a pressure of 1 to 1.2 kgf / cm < ² > for 20 minutes to 1 hour.

The blood filter of the embodiments of the present invention has excellent leukocyte removal rate and erythrocyte recovery rate. In particular, the blood filter of the present invention can treat blood at a high filtration rate. Therefore, the blood filter of the present invention can be used as a blood purifying apparatus for blood transfusion and blood donation requiring excellent leukocyte removal rate and red blood cell recovery rate.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to examples and comparative examples. It should be noted, however, that the following examples are intended to assist the understanding of the present invention and should not limit the scope of the present invention thereby.

Experimental Example 1: Measurement of average fiber diameter (占 퐉) of nonwoven fabric

The average fiber diameter of the nonwoven fabric was determined using a scanning electron microscope and an image analyzer (JVC Digital Camera KY-F70B was used in Image-Pro Plus software). At this time, measurements were performed on 20 samples.

Experimental Example 2: Measurement of average pore diameter (占 퐉) of nonwoven fabric

The average pore size (탆) and average pore size distribution (%) of the nonwoven fabric were measured using a Capillary Flow Porometer (PMI, CFL-1100-AE) according to ASTM F 316-03. Specifically, a circular specimen having a diameter of 1 inch was thoroughly wetted with a Galwick solution having a surface tension of 15.9 dyne / cm, and the resultant was put into the above equipment. At this time, measurements were performed on 10 samples.

Example 1

Polybutylene terephthalate having an intrinsic viscosity of 0.52 and a melting point of 224 캜 was melted at 250 캜 to prepare a spinning solution, and then, using a conventional meltblown nonwoven fabricating apparatus, the first nonwoven fabric for a pretreatment filter And a second nonwoven fabric for a main filter were respectively prepared.

Specifically, the dope discharge amount and the air temperature were adjusted under an air pressure of 0.7 kgf / cm ² and DCD of 250 mm to adjust the average fiber diameter of 11 탆, the average pore diameter of 24.1 탆, the weight per unit area of 35 g / m ² , Of the average thickness of the first nonwoven fabric.

Further, the dope discharge amount and the air temperature were adjusted under the conditions of air pressure of 1.2 kgf / cm ² , DCD of 50 mm, and a nozzle angle of 60 ° between the nozzles and air to obtain an average fiber diameter of 1.3 탆, an average pore diameter of 7.95 탆, A second nonwoven fabric having a weight per unit area of 25 g / m ² and an average thickness of 0.14 mm was prepared.

Subsequently, the second nonwoven fabric was subjected to a vacuum plasma treatment with an N ₂ H ₂ gas having a N ₂ : H ₂ volume ratio of 95: 5 so that the second nonwoven fabric became hydrophilic. At this time, the rate of the nonwoven fabric passing through the vacuum plasma chamber through the roll-to-roll process was 5 m / min, the total amount of N ₂ H ₂ gas filling the chamber was 4900 sccm, and the RF power applied for plasma generation was 1200 watt .

The first and second nonwoven fabrics were then cut to a filtration area of 32 cm ² .

The cut nonwoven fabrics were laminated to form a pretreatment filter of 1.716 g, and the cut nonwoven fabrics were laminated to form a main filter of 5.412 g. Then, the pretreatment filter and the main filter were mounted in a polycarbonate case, A blood filter having a target blood throughput of 330 ml was prepared by sealing with a welder.

Then, the blood filter was completed by sterilizing the blood filter at a temperature of 115 ° C and a pressure of 1.15 kgf / cm ² for 30 minutes.

Example 2

A blood filter was completed in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the second nonwoven fabric was subjected to a vacuum plasma treatment with N ₂ H ₂ gas having a N ₂ : H ₂ volume ratio of 90:10.

Example 3

A blood filter was completed in the same manner as in Example 1, except that the second nonwoven fabric was subjected to a vacuum plasma treatment with N ₂ H ₂ gas having a N ₂ : H ₂ volume ratio of 99: 1.

Example 4

A blood filter was completed in the same manner as in Example 1, except that the second nonwoven fabric was subjected to a vacuum plasma treatment with N ₂ H ₂ gas having a N ₂ : H ₂ volume ratio of 50:50.

Comparative Example 1

A blood filter was completed in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the second nonwoven fabric was subjected to a vacuum plasma treatment with O ₂ gas.

Comparative Example 2

A blood filter was completed in the same manner as in Example 1, except that the second nonwoven fabric was subjected to vacuum plasma treatment with Ar gas.

Comparative Example 3

A blood filter was completed in the same manner as in Example 1, except that the vacuum plasma treatment for the second nonwoven fabric was omitted.

The contact angle of water of the second nonwoven fabric of the above Examples and Comparative Examples and the filtration time, erythrocyte recovery rate, residual leukocyte, and filtration performance of the blood filters of the above Examples and Comparative Examples were measured respectively by the following methods Respectively.

* For the water of the second nonwoven fabric Contact angle (°)

After dropping water droplets on the surface of the second nonwoven fabric, the contact angle of the second nonwoven fabric with respect to water was measured with a contact angle meter (DSA100, KRUSS).

* Filtration time (min)

The time taken for the blood filters to filter 310-300 ml of red blood cell preparation (average 330 ml) including SAG-M (90 ml) was measured.

* Red blood cell recovery (%)

A blood filter was installed on a stand having a height of 2 m, and blood was directly connected to a tube through which whole blood was passed. Then, 15 cc of blood before and after filtration was collected. Using a Multicolor Flow Cyometric Method, 1, the hemocyte yield was quantitatively measured to obtain the red blood cell recovery rate.

division Auto CBC Reference RBC Counter 3.80 to 6.5 M / WBC Counter 4.0 to 11.0 K / WBC differential counter Lym-: 20-45%, Neutro-: 40-75% Hemoglobin (Hb) 11.5 to 18 g / dL Hematocrit (Hct) 37.0 to 50.0% Platelet 150 to 400 K / l

* After filtration, residual leukocyte (1 × 10 ⁶ / unit)

Leucocyte count was measured using LeucoCOUNT Kit, one of the bead-based flow cytometry methods. 100 μl of blood was added to a TruCOUNT tube containing a predetermined number of beads, and 400 μl of a LeucoCOUNT reagent containing RNAse, detergent and propidium iodide (PI) was added to the TruCOUNT tube and allowed to react in a dark room for 5 minutes. After counting the number of beads (R1) and number of leukocytes (R2) using FACS (BD bioscience, San Jose, CA, USA), residual leukocytes after filtration were calculated according to the following equation 2.

* Filtration performance

Considering all the factors measured by the above methods, the filtration performance of the blood filter was evaluated as grade 4 (?: Very good,?: Good,?: Normal, poor: poor).

The contact angle of water of the second nonwoven fabric of Examples and Comparative Examples, measured respectively by the above methods, and the filtration time, erythrocyte recovery rate, residual leukocyte, and filtration performance of the blood filters of the above embodiments and comparative examples Are shown in Table 2 below.

Vacuum plasma condition Contact angle
(°) percolation
time
(minute) Red blood cells
Recovery rate
(%) Residual white blood cells
(1 x 10 < ⁶ > / unit) percolation
Performance Gas 1 Gas 2 Gas 1: Gas 2 Example 1 N ₂ H ₂ 95: 5 8.1 9.7 92.7 0 ◎ Example 2 N ₂ H ₂ 90: 10 12.3 10.5 90.2 0.03 ◎ Example 3 N ₂ H ₂ 99: 1 17.4 12.6 89.4 0.07 ◎ Example 4 N ₂ H ₂ 50: 50 54.1 30.3 84.5 0.61 △ Comparative Example 1 O ₂ - 100: 0 76.8 ≥60 68.3 0.83 △ Comparative Example 2 Ar -  100: 0  80.1 ≥60 66.4 0.87 △ Comparative Example 3 - - - 88.8 ≥120 59.1 2.13 ×

As can be seen from the above Table 2, in the case of the nonwoven fabric not subjected to the vacuum plasma treatment (Comparative Example 3), the contact angle with water exceeded 80 °, and the blood filter formed with such a nonwoven fabric had its filtration Performance was poor.

In contrast, in the case of the nonwoven fabrics of Examples 1 to 4 which were subjected to the vacuum plasma treatment with N ₂ H ₂ gas, it was found that the hydrophilic nonwoven fabric had a contact angle to water of less than 55 °.

In particular, in the case of Examples 1 to 3 in which the N ₂ : H ₂ volume ratio was 90:10 to 99: 1, the contact angle to water was strong enough to be less than 20 °. As a result, It has excellent leukocyte removal rate and excellent red blood cell recovery rate of 85% or more, and has a blood treatment rate as high as less than 15 minutes in filtration time.

Claims (13)

Comprising a plurality of fibers,
At least some of the fibers are characterized by having a modified surface by vacuum plasma treatment with a N ₂ H ₂ gas,
Nonwoven fabric for blood filter. The method according to claim 1,
Characterized in that each of said fibers comprises polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), or a mixture thereof.
Nonwoven fabric for blood filter. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the non-woven fabric for a blood filter has a contact angle to water of 70 DEG or less.
Nonwoven fabric for blood filter. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the non-woven fabric for a blood filter has a contact angle with water of 55 DEG or less.
Nonwoven fabric for blood filter. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the non-woven fabric for a blood filter has a contact angle to water of 20 DEG or less.
Nonwoven fabric for blood filter. Producing a nonwoven fabric; And
And performing a vacuum plasma treatment on the nonwoven fabric using N ₂ H ₂ gas.
A method for manufacturing a nonwoven fabric for a blood filter. The method according to claim 6,
Wherein the N ₂ : H ₂ volume ratio in the N ₂ H ₂ gas is from 90:10 to 99: 1.
A method for manufacturing a nonwoven fabric for a blood filter. 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the nonwoven fabric is formed of PET, PBT, or a mixture thereof through a meltblown process.
A method for manufacturing a nonwoven fabric for a blood filter. A pretreatment filter for pretreating the incoming blood; And
And a main filter for processing the blood pretreated by the pre-processing filter,
The pretreatment filter is a laminate of first nonwoven fabrics having an average fiber diameter of 5 to 30 mu m and an average pore diameter of 10 to 30 mu m,
The main filter is a laminate of second nonwoven fabrics having an average fiber diameter of 1 to 3 mu m and an average pore diameter of 5 to 10 mu m,
And the first nonwoven and the second at least one of a nonwoven fabric, using the N ₂ H ₂ gas, characterized in that the hydrophilic nonwoven fabric comprising fibers having a modified surface by means of a vacuum plasma treatment,
Blood filter. 10. The method of claim 9,
Wherein each of the first and second nonwoven fabrics comprises PET, PBT, or a mixture thereof.
Blood filter. 10. The method of claim 9,
Wherein the hydrophilic nonwoven fabric has a contact angle to water of 70 DEG or less.
Blood filter. 10. The method of claim 9,
Wherein the hydrophilic nonwoven fabric has a contact angle to water of 55 DEG or less.
Blood filter. 10. The method of claim 9,
Wherein the hydrophilic nonwoven fabric has a contact angle to water of 20 DEG or less.
Blood filter.