Artificial kidney
Artificial kidney ,kidney
failure is a condition where the kidney
are incapable of performing its normal functions. Toxic substances which should have been excreted
such as urea and creatinine - the breakdown product of muscle- accumulate in
the body and if their levels are high
patient should start on dialysis(4). Besides this, the volume of salt and water
increases in the body and the composition of body Fluids may be seriously
deranged (hyperkalcemia, acidosis, hyperphosphatemia and hypocalcemia.
In the artificial kidney, blood is circulated through a membrane that retains
unwanted waste materials, as Fiber walls contain micropores designed to
allow waste products in the blood to pass without depleting the blood of other
required constituents, and this process should be done without excessive
pressure or cause it to permeate the fiber wall
Before hollow Fibers were introduced, most of
these devices used flat sheet membranes or multi-layer fabrics, made of several
layers of needle punched fabrics. These flat sheet membrane devices were
difficult to build and had a significant leakage problem whereas hollow fibers
could be made economically and are structurally reliable
