MODIFICATION OF CARBON FOR WEARABLE ARTIFICIAL KIDNEYS

THE LONG-TERM OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSED WORK IS TO MODIFY CARBON CARTRIDGES FOR EFFICIENT REMOVAL OF BLOOD TOXINS. CARBON ADSORPTION IS EMPLOYED FOR THE REMOVAL OF STRONGLY ADSORBABLE TOXINS IN SOME ARTIFICIAL KIDNEY SYSTEMS AS WELL AS IN MOST ARTIFICIAL LIVER CONFIGURATIONS. IN THE REGENERATIVE ARTIFICIAL KIDNEY APPLICATION, A CARBON BED WITH ABOUT 250 GRAMS OF ACTIVATED CARBON IS USED TO ADSORB THE STRONGLY ADSORBABLE SPECIES THAT ACCUMULATE BETWEEN DIALYSIS SESSIONS. THE SPECIFIC AIM OF PHASE I IS TO DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF RELIABLE MODIFICATION OF A CARBON BED. THE MODEL SPECIES TO BE INVESTIGATED WILL BE CREATININE, URIC ACID AND VITAMIN B12, AND UREA. WITH THE SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THESE MODIFICATION METHODS, GINER, INC. WILL PREPARE A PRELIMINARY CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF A REGENERATION SYSTEM AND A PROCEDURE FOR TWO APPLICATIONS: (1) CARBON BEDS USED TO ADSORB URIC ACID, CREATININE MIDDLE MOLECULES, ETC., IN REGENERATIVE, CLOSED-LOOP ARTIFICAL KIDNEYS, SUCH AS THE ELECTROCHEMICALLYREGENERATIVE ARTIFICIAL KIDNEY BEING DEVELOPED BY GINER, INC. AND THE REDY SYSTEM, AND (2) AN ARTIFICIAL KIDNEY BASEDON THE ADSORPTION OF UREA USING CARBON.