Make a Portable/Wearable Kidney Possible – Development of Microtube Array Membrane (Mtam) Dialyzer – Study on Uremic Toxins Removal

The prevalence of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) increased rapidly during the last decade globally and in Taiwan. Dialysis therapy is time consuming. Portable/wearable artificial kidney (PWAK) is a possible solution to save time and keep efficacy. However, current concepts and materials for dialysis are inadequate to develop a feasible device. A novel substrate of microtube array membrane (MTAM) was developed via a co-axial electrospinning in our laboratory. Comparing to typical hollow fibers (HFs), it features several structural characteristics, such as smaller diameter (1/100), thinner wall thickness (1/100) and tunable tube wall porosity, and these electrospun fibers were self-assembled into a one-by-one array formation. The development of MTAM makes a feasible PWAK possible. Current studies revealed that uremic toxins as indoxyl sulfate (IS) and p-cresol sulfate (PCS) could increase oxidative stress and increase mortality in CKD/ESRD patients. In this proposal, we develop MTAM-based dialysis device to remove these protein-bound uremic toxins as an initial applications for MTAM device. However, the biocompability and clearance function are still unknown. We hypothesize that MTAM does not alter blood cells components or induce immunological reaction and MTAM-based dialyzer device will effectively remove protein-bound uremic toxins in vitro and in vivo. We will test our hypothesis firstly by developing biocompatible MTAMs. Secondly, clearance function will be tested before and after housing. Thirdly, the MTAMs device will be tested in a rat dialysis model. The aims of this study are to verify, design, and demonstrate that MTAM-based device is a biocompatible, durable, and feasible platform for developing future dialysis therapy. The results of this study will characterize the MTAM-based dialysis therapy and possibly establish a new standard for future blood purification therapy.