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

这个小型企业技术转移（STTR）二期项目旨在破坏用于治疗终末期肾病（ESRD）的血液透析输送，终末期肾病是美国的一个重大健康负担。趋势是患者管理的家庭治疗。该提案的目标是通过开发可连续操作的可穿戴血液透析系统来加速采用更安全的家庭血液透析治疗，该系统由超薄和高渗透性的硅纳米膜实现。尽管更频繁的血液透析治疗在经济、健康和生活质量上有公认的好处，但使用现有系统的家庭血液透析的采用受到医生的限制。和病人吗?安全问题。更简单、更安全的血液透析疗法将需要在设备组件和外形因素方面取得突破。由硅纳米膜支持的小规模高效透析系统的开发有可能增加家庭透析的采用，并为43万美国ESRD患者带来相关益处。第一阶段的结果证明了大面积纳米膜制造方法的可行性，增强了膜，并确定了透析系统实施例的膜面积要求。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，并在肾脏优化的绵羊模型中测试这些透析器模块的透析效果。

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.