Bioartificial livers (BAL): current technological aspects and future developments

Several attempts have been made to develop bioartificial support for the tr eatment of patients with acute or fulminant liver failure. In this paper, t he authors have reviewed the technological aspects of the previously develo ped bioreactor devices like membrane-based devices, direct perfusion system s and entrapment-based columns. For each type, the technological requiremen ts were first theoretically addressed and then confronted with the actual b ioreactor configurations. A new bioreactor design has been proposed to enha nce the performance of a bioartificial liver consisting of porcine hepatocy tes entrapped in alginate beads. Finally, perspectives were drawn for the n ext developments of such promising bioartificial organs. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.