Asymmetric triacetate membrane keeps high water flux during ultrafiltration: in vitro study

Membrane fouling is a primary challenge encountered during the administration of hemodialysis (HD) and hemodiafiltration (HDF). A high-flux membrane is suitable for dialyzer reuse, since it is used repeatedly. Water flux is a benchmark used to assess the effectiveness of the dialysis membrane during treatment and it is usually evaluated to determine whether membrane fouling has occurred. Polysulfone (PS) membrane has good biocompatibility and solute permeability; however, polyethersulfone (PES) is often used as a hemodiafilter membrane because of better hydrophilicity compared to PS. We evaluated water flux across hemodiafilters using newly developed asymmetric triacetate (ATA) and PES as conventional membranes in vitro. Water flux of across ATA and PES membranes significantly decreased 30 min after the start of the experiments and thereafter showed stabilization. Water flux across the ATA membrane consistently showed significantly higher values of greater than 100 mL/m²/h/mmHg, compared to lower values observed across the PES membrane. These results suggest that the ATA membrane has a potential use not only for HDF, but also for long-time therapies of HD and HDF.