STTR Phase II: Development of Ultrathin Nanomembranes for Home-based Hemodialysis

这个小型企业技术转让（STTR）第二阶段项目旨在中断血液透析治疗终末期肾病（ESRD），这是美国的一个重大健康负担。趋势正在转向患者管理的家庭治疗。该提案的目标是通过开发可持续运行的可穿戴血液透析系统，加速采用更安全的家庭血液透析治疗，该系统由可渗透和高渗透性硅纳米膜实现。尽管更频繁的血液透析治疗具有公认的经济、健康和生活质量益处，但使用现有系统的家庭血液透析的采用受到医生的限制？和病人？安全问题。更简单、更安全的血液透析治疗需要在设备组件和外形尺寸方面取得突破。一个小规模的，高效率的透析系统，使硅纳米膜的发展有可能增加采用家庭透析和其相关的好处为430，000美国ESRD patients.Phase I的结果证明了大面积纳米膜制造的方法的可行性，加强膜和确定的膜面积要求的透析系统的实施例。第二阶段的目标是完成更大面积的膜制造，优化膜过滤性能，将膜集成到透析器模块中，并在肾移植绵羊模型中测试这些透析器模块的透析功效。

This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase II project aims to disrupt hemodialysis delivery for treating end-stage renal disease (ESRD), a significant health burden in the US. Trends are moving toward patient-managed, in-home treatments. The goal of this proposal is to accelerate adoption of safer home hemodialysis therapy through development of continuously operating, wearable hemodialysis systems enabled by ultrathin and highly permeable silicon nanomembranes. Despite the recognized economic, health and quality-of-life benefits of more frequent hemodialysis treatments, adoption of home hemodialysis using present systems is being limited by doctors? and patients? safety concerns. Simpler and safer hemodialysis therapies will require breakthroughs in both device components and form-factors. The development of a small-scale, highly efficient dialysis system enabled by silicon nanomembranes holds potential for increasing adoption of home dialysis and its related benefits for the 430,000 US ESRD patients.Phase I results demonstrated feasibility of methods for large area nanomembrane fabrication, strengthened membranes and identified membrane area requirements for a dialysis system embodiment. Phase II objectives focus on completing larger area membrane fabrication, optimization of membrane filtration properties, integration of membranes into dialyzer modules and testing dialysis efficacy of these dialyzer modules in a nephrectimized sheep model.