FI63859C - ANALIFICATION OF DIFFUSION OF AEMNEN MELLAN TVAO FLUIDER - Google Patents

Description

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Sweden-Sweden (SE) 7510099-0 (71) Extracorporeal Medical Specialties, Inc., Royal. & Ross Roads,

King of Prussia, Pennsylvania 19l06, USA (72) Gerhard Riede, Vellinge, Sweden-Sweden (SE) (7l) Oy Kolster Ab (5l) Apparatus for the diffusion of substances between two fluids -Anordning för diffusion av ämnen mellan tvä fluider

The invention relates to a device for the diffusion of substances between two fluids, which device is intended in particular for the treatment of blood, through semipermeable membranes in the form of thin-walled tubes through which one of said fluids is intended to flow, while the outside is surrounded by another of these fluids, the device being provided with collecting inlets and collecting outlets for each fluid, respectively.

Dialysis devices such as those described above are known, for example, from patent publications AT-295479 and DE-1236476. However, in the device according to the AT publication, the utilization of the cleaning liquid is poor due to the fact that the cleaning liquid has the possibility of coming into contact with the semipermeable membrane only a few times over the limited length of the capillary tubes used in the device. Because the cleaning fluid is expensive and is discarded after dialysis, the utilization of the cleaning fluid is one of the most important factors in evaluating the utility of the apparatus. In a device such as DE, the utilization of the cleaning fluid is even lower because the device has only one chamber into which a number of hollow fibers are arranged. Although blood and cleaning fluid flow in opposite directions, the exposure time is still very short, resulting in poor utilization of the cleaning fluid and poor cleaning ability of the device. The aim is to eliminate the above-mentioned known disadvantages and to provide a device with a better operating economy. This is achieved by a device according to the invention, characterized in particular in that the second fluid is arranged to pass through two or more separated chambers (4) through which one or more thin-walled tubes pass, each chamber being separated from the next chamber by another fluid. in the flow direction in the duct (5), which does not have such semipermeable tubes, is arranged such that the flow of the first fluid through the thin-walled tubes in the chambers always takes place countercurrent to the flow through the chambers of the second fluid.

The device according to the invention is primarily intended for use in the purification of blood, i.e. as a so-called artificial kidney. In this case, blood flows through the thin-walled tubes, while the cleaning fluid is made to flow outside the tubes. This cleaning fluid is normally pure water to which certain salts have been added.

However, it will be clear to a person skilled in the art that the device according to the invention can also be used for many other purposes. It can be used, for example, to oxidize the blood, in which case the cleaning liquid according to the above example is changed to oxygen or an oxygen-containing gas mixture. In that case, the said fluids are thus liquid and gas. However, it can also be two gases, e.g. when separating substances from a gas to transfer them to another gas. However, since the device is primarily intended for use as a so-called artificial kidney, it will be explained in the following in connection with such an application. This is done with reference to the accompanying drawing, which shows by way of example two different preferred embodiments of the device according to the invention.

Figure 1 shows a first preferred embodiment of a device according to the invention in longitudinal section.

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Figure 2 shows a corresponding view of the same device, partly in section.

Fig. 3 shows a view perpendicular to Fig. 2 also in partial section.

Figure 4 is a section along the line IV-IV in Figure 2.

Fig. 5 finally shows a section of a somewhat modified embodiment of the device according to the invention, which corresponds to the section according to Fig. 1.

The device according to Figures 1 to 4 consists of an outer jacket 1 connected by two parts 1a and 1b, which is shown in more detail in Figure 4. In the example shown, the two halves are held together by hook-shaped locking members 2a and 2b, but in practice they can be held together arbitrarily, e.g. by welding or some kind of screw or clamping members. Part Ib comprises partitions 3b which form chambers 4 and channels 5, respectively. Thin-walled tubes 6 pass through the chambers 4 and run from the end wall 7 to the end wall 7 (see Fig. 1). Channels 5 are missing such thin-walled pipes. The partitions 3b belonging to the half Ib of the outer jacket 1 are sealed with respect to the half of the outer jacket 1a by seals 8a. These seals 8a can be made in one piece with the half 1a or can be separate seals.

If the device according to the invention is used artificial kidney, the blood is led in the direction of arrow A through the inlet opening 9 of the inlet chamber 10. This chamber is delimited on one side of the end wall 7 and the second page of the cover-like end portion 11. All ohutseinämiset tubes 6 opening into the chamber 10. The second open end tubes similarly verenpoistokammioon the discharge chamber 12. This blood is passed in the direction of arrow B through the outlet 13. The discharge chamber 12 is located between the end wall 7 and the lid-like end part 14. The device according to the invention is intended to be placed vertically, whereby blood is introduced in from its lower end and out from its upper end. The salt solution or the cleaning liquid is on the contrary in its upper end in the direction of arrow C through 15 kokoomatuloaukon. It then flows in the direction of arrow D upstream of the blood flowing in the direction of arrow E direction. This takes place through the first chamber 4. At the lower end of the kidney, the cleansing fluid turns and flows up through the intermediate channel 5. Then, it flows again in the direction of arrow D 4 63 859 received into the blood stream as a relative etc. Finally, the cleaning fluid reaches the co-koomapoistoaukon 16 and flows out of the arrow F direction.

The end walls 7 are made of a more or less flexible mass which tightly surrounds the corresponding pipe opening and which thus effectively seals both liquids apart. In addition, seals 17 are arranged between the end walls 7 and the end parts 11 and 14, respectively. The end parts 11 and 14 can then be fastened to the tubular outer jacket 1 in any way, e.g. by gluing or by means of some kind of screws or pressing elements. In Fig. 3, however, they are shown attached to the sheath 1 by hook-shaped locking members 18 and 19.

The device according to Figure 5 corresponds in principle to the device according to Figure 1. Therefore, the same reference marks have been used, but one or two quotation marks have been added as a footnote. The only essential difference is that the intermediate channels 5 are omitted, so that when the device is used as a kidney, a flow of blood and cleansing fluid is provided upstream in every other channel 4 'and downstream in the channels 4 "between them.

The invention is, of course, not limited to the embodiments described above, but can be modified within the scope of the following claims. For example, the shape of the various parts included in the device may vary substantially without exceeding the scope of the invention. For example, in the exemplary structure, the flow may be reversed so that blood or similar fluid is fed from above, while cleaning fluid or similar fluid is fed from below, i.e. in the opposite direction to arrows A-F. It should further be noted that the thin-walled tubes 6 are shown as exaggeratedly thick. In practice, the outer diameter is preferably about 0.3 to 0.5 mm, while the wall thickness is extremely small. However, other dimensions are also possible.

Claims (6)

1. A device for diffusing substances between two fluids, which device is intended specifically for the treatment of blood, via semipermeable membranes, which have the front of thin-walled tubes (6), which are intended to flow through one of the flowing fluids, the exterior is surrounded by the second of flowing fluids, the collecting inlet and collecting outlet being provided for respective flowing fluids, characterized in that the second flowing fluid is arranged to be passed through two or more interconnected chambers (4) each one or more of the thin-walled tubes, each chamber being separated from the following chambers in the flow direction of the second flowing fluid through a channel (5) which lacks these semipermeable tubes, while the arrangement is peculiar that the flow of one flowing fluid through the thin-walled tubes the tubes in the chamber always happen countercurrent in relation to the flow of the second stream through the chamber e the fluid. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the individual chambers (4) are formed by a tubular outer casing (1), which is divided into these chambers (4) by longitudinally arranged intermediate walls (3b). Device according to claim 2, characterized in that the tubular outer casing (1) has a substantially rectangular cross-section and the partitions (3b) are arranged in parallel with two opposing outer walls. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said channel (5) is formed by two adjacent partitions (3b), one of which extends from one end of the outer casing (1) to the other end thereof, without reaching it. this, while the other in the same way protrudes from this other end directed towards the former, but without reaching for it. 5. Device according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that the outer casing (1) at each end is terminated by a Snd wall (7), through which the thin-walled pipes run into a mating chamber (10 and 12) for the the fluid flowing tubes (6), said collection chamber being leakingly restricted by a lid-like end portion (11 and 14) provided with a collection inlet (9)