Researchers from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) of the Herbert Wertheim School of Engineering have developed a new type of hemodialysis membrane made of graphene oxide (GO), which is a monoatomic layered material. It is expected to completely change the treatment of kidney dialysis patiently. This advancement allows the microchip dialyzer to be attached to the patient’s skin. Operating under arterial pressure, it will eliminate the blood pump and extracorporeal blood circuit, allowing safe dialysis in the comfort of your home. Compared with the existing polymer membrane, the permeability of the membrane is two orders of magnitude higher, has blood compatibility, and is not as easy to scale as polymer membranes.
Professor Knox T. Millsaps of MAE and lead researcher of the membrane project Saeed Moghaddam and his team have developed a new process involving self-assembly and optimization of the physical and chemical properties of GO nanoplatelets. This process only turns the 3 GO layers into highly organized nanosheet assemblies, thereby achieving ultra-high permeability and selectivity. “By developing a membrane that is significantly more permeable than its biological counterpart, the glomerular basement membrane (GBM) of the kidney, we have demonstrated the great potential of nanomaterials, nanoengineering, and molecular self-assembly.” Mogda Dr. Mu said.
The study of membrane performance in hemodialysis scenarios has produced very encouraging results. The sieving coefficients of urea and cytochrome-c are 0.5 and 0.4, respectively, which are sufficient for long-term slow dialysis while retaining more than 99% of albumin; studies on hemolysis, complement activation and coagulation have shown that they are comparable to existing dialysis membrane materials Or better than the performance of existing dialysis membrane materials. The results of this study have been published on Advanced Materials Interfaces (February 5, 2021) under the title “Trilayer Interlinked Graphene Oxide Membrane for Wearable Hemodialyzer”.
Dr. Moghaddam said: “We have demonstrated a unique self-assembled GO nanoplatelet ordered mosaic, which greatly advances the ten-year effort in the development of graphene-based membranes.” It is a viable platform that can enhance low-flow night dialysis at home.” Dr. Moghaddam is currently working on the development of microchips using new GO membranes, which will bring research closer to the reality of providing wearable hemodialysis devices for kidney disease patients.
Nature’s editorial (March 2020) stated: “The World Health Organization estimates that approximately 1.2 million people die of kidney failure each year worldwide [and the incidence of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) is due to diabetes and hypertension]…. Dialysis The combination of practical limitations of technology and affordability also means that less than half of the people in need of treatment have access to it.” Appropriately miniaturized wearable devices are an economical solution to increase survival rates, especially in development China. “Our membrane is a key component of a miniature wearable system, which can reproduce the filtration function of the kidney, greatly improving comfort and affordability worldwide,” said Dr. Moghaddam.
“Major advances in the treatment of patients with hemodialysis and renal failure are limited by membrane technology. Membrane technology has not made significant progress in the past few decades. The fundamental advancement of membrane technology requires improvement of renal dialysis. A highly permeable and selective Materials, such as the ultra-thin graphene oxide membrane developed here, may change the paradigm. Ultra-thin permeable membranes can not only realize miniaturized dialyzers, but also real portable and wearable devices, thereby improving the quality of life and patient prognosis.” James L. McGrath said he is a professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Rochester and a co-inventor of a new ultra-thin silicon membrane technology for various biological applications (Nature, 2007).
This research was funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) under the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Moghaddam’s team includes Dr. Richard P. Rode, postdoctoral fellow at UF MAE, Dr. Thomas R. Gaborski (co-principal investigator), Daniel Ornt, MD (co-principal investigator), and Henry C of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology . Dr. Chung and Hayley N. Miller.
Dr. Moghaddam is a member of the UF Interdisciplinary Microsystems Group and leads the Nanostructured Energy Systems Laboratory (NESLabs), whose mission is to improve the knowledge level of nanoengineering of functional porous structures and micro/nanoscale transmission physics. He brings together multiple disciplines of engineering and science to better understand the physics of micro/nano-scale transmission and develop next-generation structures and systems with higher performance and efficiency.
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