Membranen in der medizinischen Verfahrenstechnik

Membranes in medical process engineering. Synthetic membranes not only represent the essential components of an artificial kidney or an artificial lung but are also used as wound dressing and in systems for controlled release of drugs in certain long-term therapeutic measures or as part of an artificial pancreas. By far the greatest present economic significance of membranes is their use in the so-called artificial kidney. Considerable cost saving would result if patients could undertake „home dialysis”. This requires the development of new, simpler artificial kidneys and thus higher-performance membranes. The latest trend in „artificial kidneys”, the so-called method of „hemodiafiltration” warants special mention. The separation process is no longer effected only by diffusion but also by convection, i.e. the driving force is the pressure difference between the two sides of the membrane. This paper addresses problems encountered in the development and use of membranes in medicine, recent applications such as the controlled release of active components, or plasma separation, and demonstrates the potential of membranes in medicine.