IN-VITRO BLOOD COMPATIBILITY EVALUATION OF HOLLOW-FIBER MEMBRANE USING A CONTROLLED FLOW SYSTEM - A COMPARATIVE-STUDY

A procedure has been established for the in vitro assessment of hollow fibre haemodialysis membranes. A 30 mi syringe containing 20 mi of fr esh non-anticoagulated blood was mounted onto a non-pulsatile syringe pump and blood was perfused through minimodules constructed from 80 fi bres retrieved from Cuprophan (Baxter ST15), cellulose acetate (M57-12 , JMS Co Ltd, Hiroshima, Japan), and AN69HF (Filtral 20, Hospal, Franc e) dialysers. Samples were collected before perfusion, 3, 6, 9 and 12 minutes. The modules were clamped vertically to minimise the effect of red cell pooling and the dialysate compartment was filled with 0.9% s aline to minimise ultrafiltration. After sample processing, complement C3a, thrombin-antithrombin III complexes, prothrombin F1 + 2, and fac tor XII-like activity were evaluated The results indicated that the sy stem could discriminate between the membranes evaluated and therefore was a relevant procedure for the assessment of hollow fibre haemodialy sis membranes.