A new operational principle for blood treatment with highly permeable membranes

Conventional membrane devices for blood treatment have traditionally been operated either as hemofilters or as dialyzers. This article discusses the possibility of combining both aspects in one single device, using a single membrane with a high hydraulic permeability. In fact, the combined function is found to be the only possible mode of operation, using very permeable membranes, but this apparently has so far not been recognized in actual application.