JPH0560951B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a hollow fiber type artificial organ, and more particularly to a method for fixing a bundle of hollow fibers in an outer cylinder in a uniformly dispersed state.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, in a method for manufacturing a hollow-eye bar type artificial organ such as an oxygenator, the method for fixing a bundle of hollow eye bars to an outer cylinder is to first insert the bundle of hollow eye bars into the outer cylinder, and then to After the ends of the fiber bundle are separated appropriately by hand, the end openings of each fiber are closed and fixed with sealing resin such as polyurethane, and the ends of the hollow fiber bundle are sealed with a potting agent (for example, polyurethane resin) at the tube end. After fixing the hollow fiber bundle to the end, a method is adopted in which the inner part of the end of the hollow fiber bundle is cut with a sharp cutter or the like in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the hollow fiber bundle.
As a means of uniformly dispersing the hollow fiber bundle, a method may be considered in which a ball or the like is placed in the center of the potting surface during potting and fixed with a potting agent. However, this method is not sufficient to disperse the hollow fibers well, and therefore, not only is the yield rate low, but there is also concern that the fibers may be damaged. Therefore, the present inventors have proposed a method of blowing air from one direction onto the end face of the hollow fiber bundle to be dispersed.

(Problems to be Solved) As a result of various studies to improve the above-mentioned drawbacks, the present inventor has completed the present invention. An object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a fiber type artificial organ.

(Means for solving the problem) That is, the present invention inserts a bundle of hollow fibers consisting of a large number of fibers into an outer cylinder, then fixes the end portion of each fiber of the bundle with a fixing agent, and then A hollow fiber type artificial organ comprising the steps of fixing the end portions in the outer cylinder with a potting agent, and further cutting the potting agent portion at the end of the fixed hollow fiber bundle to open each fiber end. In the manufacturing method of
After inserting the hollow eye bar bundle into the above outer cylinder,
When uniformly dispersing each fiber end of the hollow fiber bundle, gas is blown from one end surface of the hollow fiber bundle along the longitudinal direction of the hollow fiber bundle, or at the same time, after that, gas is blown from one end surface of the hollow fiber bundle to the other end surface of the hollow fiber bundle. A hollow fiber type characterized in that a gas is blown onto the side end face in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the hollow fiber fiber to uniformly disperse the ends of the hollow fiber fiber, and then the fiber bundle is fixed with the above-mentioned fixing agent. This is a method for manufacturing artificial organs. Accordingly, in the present invention, the gas to be blown onto the fiber end face is not particularly limited, but from a cost perspective,
Clean air is desirable.

However, since hollow fibers are usually bundled with cellophane film or the like before they are inserted into the outer cylinder, the fibers maintain the same shape as when the film was wrapped after being inserted, and the fibers are not densely packed. Because of the dispersion, even if gas is blown onto the end face of the fiber in this state, the gas will flow only to the sparse portions of the fiber, and no significant dispersion effect can be expected. Therefore, in the present invention, gas is blown from one end side of the hollow fiber bundle, or at the same time, or thereafter, gas is blown in the longitudinal direction of the hollow fiber bundle to the other end side of the hollow fiber bundle, thereby eliminating variations in the density of the fibers. Once the problem has been resolved, gas is blown from one end of the hollow fiber bundle to increase dispersion efficiency. In particular, when using an outer tube that is difficult to disperse, such as an outer tube whose size is about the same as the fiber bundle diameter or a constriction in the center of the outer tube, the gas is removed from the dispersion surface of the hollow fiber bundle. Before blowing, it is desirable to blow gas from the other end side of the fiber bundle.At this time, if the fibers on the dispersion side are bundled and the gas is blown in that state, the fourth
As shown in the figure, after the central part of the fiber bundle swells and the fibers are no longer uneven in density and are separated, the effect is increased by removing the film and blowing gas from one end of the fiber bundle. You can also blow gas from the opposite side at the same time. Further, in the present invention, it is preferable that the gas is blown from the opposite side through an outer cylinder port portion on the side opposite to the dispersion surface of the outer cylinder.

In the present invention, the blowing of gas from the opposite side is determined by the material, amount, etc. of the fiber, but
/min or less, the effect is small and usually about 5 to 50/min.
min, preferably about 10/min.

(Embodiments) Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, which illustrate the manufacturing process of the present invention.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes an outer cylinder of a hollow-eye bar type oxygenator, which is enlarged and opened at both ends. Further, communication ports 2 are connected to the enlarged portions at both ends inside the outer cylinder. First, a hollow fiber bundle 3 cut to a predetermined length as shown in FIG. is sprayed in the longitudinal direction of the fiber, and at the same time, air is flowed at 10/min from the port on the opposite side of the dispersion surface to perform dispersion (see Figure 2). After that, the fiber end of the hollow fiber bundle is fixed with a fixing agent, and this end portion is fixed in the outer cylinder with a potting agent, and the potting agent portion at the end of the hollow fiber bundle is opened to form an oxygenator (Fig. 3). reference). Note that FIG. 4 illustrates another embodiment in which the diameters of the fiber bundle and the outer cylinder are approximately equal.

Example 1 A bundle of hollow fibers (inner diameter 200 μm, outer diameter 300 μm,
6200) and perform dispersion using the method described above. When blowing gas from the opposite side of the dispersion surface, bundle the fibers on the dispersion surface as shown in Figure 4.
When gas was blown into the fibers as they were, and then the fibers were separated and the same dispersion as in Example 1 was carried out, a good dispersion state was obtained in about 10 minutes.
When the dispersion state was confirmed by an iodine adsorption method, more than 90% of the dispersion was colored, and the dispersion state was very good.

Comparative Example 1 Using the outer tube and fiber bundle used in Example 1,
Gas was blown from one end of the hollow fiber bundle in the longitudinal direction of the fibers using an air nozzle with an inner diameter of 1.8 mm to perform dispersion. The dispersion time is approximately
It was hot in 30 minutes. When the dispersion state was confirmed by an iodine adsorption method, the colored portion was about 60 to 80% and the dispersion state was not very good.

(Effects) The method for manufacturing a hollow fiber type artificial organ of the present invention has the following features: 1. Since a gas is used, the fibers are not touched directly by hands or machines, and the fibers are not damaged.

2. Since a uniform dispersion state can be easily obtained, artificial organs with stable performance can be supplied with a high yield rate.

3. Because gas is introduced from both sides of the fiber, uniform dispersion can be achieved in a short time.

4. Even if the outer tube is the same size as the fiber bundle diameter or has a constriction in the center of the outer tube, which makes it difficult to disperse, it is possible to produce an artificial organ with stable performance and a high yield rate. can be supplied with It has the following effects.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 to 3 are schematic diagrams showing the process order based on one embodiment in which the method of the present invention is applied to the production of an oxygenator, and Figure 4 is a schematic diagram showing the process based on another embodiment. be. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Outer cylinder, 2... Port, 3... Hollow fiber bundle, 4... Air nozzle, 5... Fixing agent, 6... Potting agent, a-a... Slice surface, 7... Rib, 8... Air, 9... Cellophane film.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A bundle of hollow fibers consisting of a large number of fibers is inserted into the outer cylinder, and then the end portion of each fiber of the bundle of hollow fibers is fixed with a fixing agent, and then the end portion is fixed with a potting agent to the outer cylinder. In the method for manufacturing a hollow fiber type artificial organ, the method includes the step of: opening the end of each fiber by cutting the potting agent portion of the fixed end of the bundle of hollow fibers; After inserting the hollow fiber bundle into the fiber bundle, in order to uniformly disperse each fiber end of the hollow fiber bundle, the bundled fibers on the dispersion side are inserted into the outer cylinder, and gas is introduced from the other end of the fiber bundle. After blowing, untie the fibers, and then
At the same time or after blowing gas along the length of the hollow eye from one end side,
With respect to the side end surface of the other end surface of the hollow fiber bundle,
A method for producing a hollow fiber type artificial organ, which comprises blowing gas perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction of the hollow fiber to uniformly disperse the ends of the hollow fiber, and then fixing the fiber bundle with the above-mentioned fixing agent. . 2. The method for manufacturing a hollow fiber artificial organ according to claim 1, wherein the gas is blown from the opposite side from the outer cylinder port portion on the opposite side to the dispersion surface of the outer cylinder. 3. The method for manufacturing a hollow fiber artificial organ according to claim 1, wherein the gas is blown from the opposite side at a rate of about 10/min.