JPS594138B2 - Ass exiyori sochi - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides hollow fibers (simply referred to as hollow fibers in the present invention) having a continuous hollow cavity as a semipermeable membrane.

), blood flows inside the hollow fibers, and fluid flows outside the hollow fibers (referred to as extra-fiber fluid in the present invention).

), through the semipermeable membrane of the hollow fiber, and the process is performed by controlling the flow rate or flow rate of the fluid flowing through the 1A portion of the hollow fiber, that is, the fluid outside the fiber, to %. The present invention relates to a blood processing device that can be used for the purpose of shortening time and increasing purification effect.

Conventionally, a large number of semipermeable hollow fibers, approximately 10,000 semipermeable membranes, are lined up in parallel and bundled into a cylindrical shape, and the fiber bundle is placed in a cylindrical container having an inlet and an outlet for fluid flowing outside the hollow fibers. The hollow fibers are filled without disturbing the parallel relationship between each fiber, and the fluid flowing through the inside of the hollow fiber is prevented from mixing with the fluid flowing outside the hollow fiber without passing through the membrane of the hollow fiber. At both ends of the hollow fibers, the gaps between the fibers and the gaps between the fibers and the container wall are liquid-tightly bonded with an adhesive to serve as a support device and bulkhead device for the hollow fibers. 2. Description of the Related Art Fluid treatment devices are known in which inlets and outlets for fluid flowing inside the fibers are formed at both ends of a fiber bundle.

However, in this device, a large number of hollow fibers are packed relatively densely and filled almost completely in a cylindrical container, so the fluid flowing outside the fibers evenly fills the gaps between each hollow fiber. It is nearly impossible for the water to flow, and in some places it does not flow sufficiently and creates stagnation.

Therefore, there is a membrane surface that is not fully utilized, and the advantage of using hollow fibers, which is a large membrane area per unit container volume, is not fully utilized. The movement effect was still not sufficient.

Furthermore, even if an attempt is made to provide sufficient gaps between the hollow fibers in order to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, it is technically difficult to arrange the thin hollow fibers with equal and even sufficient gaps. It is strange and impossible to realize.

Furthermore, even if such a device is used as an artificial kidney device by flowing blood inside the fibers, if the volume of the container is large, the blood outlet at the end of the fiber bundle will also be large, and the patient will not be able to use it during blood purification. In some cases, the limit on the amount of blood that can be taken out of the body is exceeded, making this device difficult to use as a blood processing device such as an artificial kidney.

Furthermore, in the conventional device described above, a large number of hollow fibers are relatively densely bundled and filled all over the wall of the cylindrical container, so it is difficult to increase the flow rate or flow velocity of the fluid flowing outside the fibers. However, if this flow rate or flow rate were to be forcibly set, the fluid would flow only where it could easily flow, and in any case, it was difficult to shorten the processing time with this device.

The inventors have discovered the advantages of using hollow fibers, namely:
Since a large number of thin hollow fibers are used, both ends of the fibers can be tightly bundled and bonded, and therefore the fluid inside the fibers,
In other words, in an effort to create a device that would increase the amount of material actually transferred through the semipermeable membrane without sacrificing the advantage of having a compact blood inlet/outlet section, we conducted various studies and experiments and found the following ( A blood processing device having the characteristics a) to (c) was invented, in which a bundle of multiple semipermeable hollow fibers with both ends bonded together is housed in a container.

a) one of the ends of the hollow fiber bundle is on the left side of the container and the other on the right side of the container; b) the container has an inlet for fiber IA fluid at the bottom; C) the container has a fiber IA fluid outlet extending over the entire upper portion; d) the container gradually widens from the fiber IA fluid inlet toward the hollow fiber bundle.

Note that in the present invention, the upper, lower, left, and right parts of the container are not limited to the upper wall, lower wall, left-facing wall, and right-facing wall, respectively; for example, the upper part of the container refers to the container. It also means the top wall of the container or the top wall of the container periphery.
Having a fiber 94rK body outlet over the entire top of the container means that there is no top wall of the container, that there are many openings across the top wall of the container, that there are many openings across the top of the side walls of the container, etc. .

As described above, the device of the present invention has a structure in which the fiber IAIrf gradually expands from the body toward the hollow fiber bundle, and the outflow port for the fiber IA fluid exists throughout the upper part of the container. , the flow rate or flow rate of the extrafiber fluid can be adjusted to uniformly contact the fiber'AH body with the hollow fiber.

Therefore, the apparatus of the present invention can shorten the processing time and increase the purification effect.

Further, to explain in detail, when the device of the present invention is used as a blood processing device such as an artificial kidney, from the economical point of view of the extra-fibrous fluid, it is preferable to use the fluid flowing out from the outflow port of the extra-fibrous fluid. An outer fence for storage and a means for circulating the fiber 'AN bodies from the outer fence to the fiber IA fluid inlet of the device of the present invention are used in combination.

Further, from the viewpoint of purification efficiency, it is preferable that the ends of the fiber bundle consisting of a large number of hollow fibers are bound together with an adhesive, and the unsupported portions can be moved to some extent.

In order to give the fiber flexibility and sufficiently enhance the blood purification effect, or to shorten the processing time,
The flow path of the extrafiber fluid in the container of the device of the invention is such that the fiber I
It is preferable that it widens in the direction connecting the inlet and outlet of fluid A, that is, in the vertical direction, and narrows in other directions so that the fiber IA fluid does not flow.

The invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to the drawings showing a few embodiments of the device of the invention.

Since it is difficult to accurately show the fiber bundle in which a large number of hollow fibers 1 are bundled and bonded at both ends 2 and 3 in the apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, FIG. Shown schematically.

A large number of hollow fibers 1, for example several hundred, preferably several thousand, are glued together at both ends 2 and 3 with an adhesive 4.

Such a fiber bundle is shown in US Pat. No. 3,228,876.

These 10 bundles of hollow fibers are housed in a container 5, with one end of the hollow fiber bundle being fixed to the left side wall of the container 5, and the other end being fixed to the right side wall of the container.

This container 5 has a fiber IA fluid inlet 6 in its lower part, the container 5 gradually widens from the fiber IA fluid inlet 6 towards the bundle of hollow fibers 1, and this container 5 has, for example, a first fiber IA fluid inlet 6. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, it is necessary to have one or more outflow lowers for the 9% fiber fluid over the entire upper part of the container.

By structuring the container 5 as described above, a large amount of fiber IA fluid can be brought into contact with the fiber bundle as uniformly as possible.

In order to bring the fiber IA fluid into even more sufficient contact with the fiber bundle, as in the example of the apparatus shown in FIGS. It is preferable to have a structure that does not flow.

FIG. 4 shows another example of a container, which is provided with an opening 8 for fixing the hollow fiber bundle inside the container 5.

As in this example, the outflow lower part of the extra-fiber fluid can also be provided at the upper part of the side surface.

Further, the hollow fiber bundles may be covered with a net or the like, but it is inappropriate to construct these with a structure that prevents movement of the fibers.

However, depending on the method of using the device of the present invention, the fibers may move too much and break the fibers. In such a case, at least the upper part of the fiber bundle should be covered with a net 9 as shown in FIG. It is preferable to appropriately restrict the amount of movement of the fibers.

Although it is possible to use a control rod instead of the net, it is preferable to use a mesh body such as a net.

Further, as an auxiliary means for more uniformly dispersing the extra-fiber fluid into the fiber bundle, a flow dividing plate 10 may be used as shown in FIG. The device can achieve its purpose.

In addition to the above example, there are various other devices that do not depart from the spirit of the present invention.

For example, there are devices shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.

In this container, 10 bundles of hollow fibers are divided into two by a separator 11 placed inside the container 5.

The separator 11 is supported by a container as shown in FIG.

In addition, when used as a device for flowing blood from a patient's blood vessels into the hollow fibers of the device of the present invention and returning the purified blood to the patient's blood vessels, for example, as an artificial kidney, an outflow port for fluid outside the fibers is provided. When a component for storing a fluid to be stored and a component for flowing the extra-fiber fluid from the component to the fiber IA fluid inlet of the device of the present invention are used together, the extra-fiber fluid can be used in circulation.

When the device described above is compared with a conventional blood processing device under almost the same conditions, the blood purification efficiency of the device of the present invention is extremely superior, and when the same purification rate as the conventional device is sufficient, The time required to purify blood can be shortened, and if the same purification rate and the same amount of time are required, the device can be made smaller.

Such a reduction in the required time and a reduction in the amount of blood filled due to the reduction in the number of devices can reduce the burden on the patient when the device is used as an artificial kidney device.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the device of the invention, with the location of the internal hollow fiber bundles indicated by dashed lines. Figure 2 is a sectional view of Figure 1. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a hollow fiber bundle used in the apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing another example of a container for the apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a plan view showing another example of the device of the present invention,
Figure 6 is a sectional view taken along line xx' in Figure 5, and Figure 7 is a Y-Y cross-sectional view in Figure 5.
-Y' sectional view. '1...Hollow fiber, 2...Hollow fiber end, 3...Hollow fiber end, 4...
・Adhesive, 5...Container, 6...Fluid flowing in outside the fibers, ? ...Fiber 9S fluid outlet,
8...Container opening 9...Net, 10
...Broadcast plate, 11...Separator.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A blood processing device in which a large number of semipermeable hollow fiber bundles with both ends bound and bonded are housed in a container, including: a) one of the ends of the hollow fiber bundles is connected to the container; b) the container has an inlet for extrafiber fluid at the bottom; c) the container has an inlet for extrafiber fluid over the entire top; d) the container gradually waves from the fiber IA fluid inlet toward the hollow fiber bundle.