Dialysis Filter Device with Sealed Compartments
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing filter devices for dialysis and related filtration processes have complex designs with internal walls, making them difficult to produce and prime efficiently while maintaining safety and efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A filter device with a housing and end-caps, featuring a fluid chamber with internal compartments separated by sealing means, allowing for easy production and priming, and utilizing hollow fibers with semi-permeable membranes for fluid filtration and substitution fluid generation without additional filters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If internal walls are added to divide the housing into compartments, then fluid separation and filtration functionality is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The housing is divided into multiple compartments (first compartment, second compartment, third compartment) using internal walls that extend between end caps. This segmentation allows separate fluid pathways for blood and dialysate, enabling independent control and filtration of each fluid stream while maintaining structural organization.
Solution Approach 2:
A bridge structure connects the first compartment and second compartment, serving as an intermediary element that allows controlled fluid transfer between compartments. The bridge includes fluid ports and sealing mechanisms that mediate fluid flow without requiring direct connection between compartments, simplifying the overall structure while maintaining functionality.
2Productivity
If multiple compartments and internal walls are used, then filtration efficiency is improved, but priming process complexity and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The device includes pre-configured fluid pathways, sealed compartments, and integrated sealing means that are prepared during manufacturing. The bridge structure with pre-positioned fluid ports and the sealing mechanisms are installed beforehand, allowing for rapid priming by simply connecting fluid sources without complex manual assembly or lengthy priming procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The complex internal wall structures and sealing mechanisms are integrated into the housing during manufacturing, extracting the priming complexity from the operational phase. The device is delivered in a pre-assembled state with all compartments, walls, and seals in place, requiring minimal user intervention during priming.
3Reliability
If additional filters are added for substitution fluid generation, then fluid purification capability is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The hollow fibers with semi-permeable membranes serve multiple functions: they act as the primary filtration medium for blood purification and simultaneously serve as the substitution fluid generation mechanism. The same membrane structure that filters blood waste products also enables dialysate to be purified and converted into substitution fluid, eliminating the need for separate filtration units.
Solution Approach 2:
The filtration and substitution fluid generation functions are merged into a single integrated system using the hollow fiber bundle. The dialysate circulation path is integrated with the hollow fiber external surface, allowing the same membrane structure to perform both blood filtration and substitution fluid purification without requiring additional separate filter components.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables efficient filtration and production of substitution fluids, simplifies the production and priming process, and maintains safety and efficiency in dialysis-type treatments by eliminating the need for internal walls and additional filtration units.
Implementation Method 1
Various convection and diffusion processes may thereby take place across the membranes of the hollow fibers
Implementation Method 2
Various convection and diffusion processes may thereby take place across the membranes of the hollow fibers
Implementation Method 3
excess fluids, in particular plasma water as well as waste products, are removed from the blood by means of a pressure difference across the semi-permeable membranes of the hollow fibers
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2(A)~2(B)
Figure 3
AI summary
A filter device (10) for filtration of fluids, in particular for the dialysis of blood. The filter device (10) comprises a housing (12) having a first end (14) and a second end (16) and defining a fluid chamber (18) extending between the first end (14) and the second end (16). The filter device (10) further comprises a first lid (20) provided at the first end (14) of the housing(12) and comprising a first fluid port (22), a first compartment (24), a second compartment (26) and a first internal separating wall (28) separating the first compartment (24) from the second compartment (26).The filter device (10) further comprises a second lid (30) provided at the second end (16) of the housing (12) and comprising a second fluid port (32), a third fluid port (33), a third compartment (34), a fourth compartment (36) and a second internal separating wall (38) separating the third compartment (34) from the fourth compartment (36). The filter device (10) further comprises a plurality of hollow fibers (40) arranged within the housing (12), wherein each of the plurality of hollow fibers (40) comprises a semi-permeable membrane and defines a fluid channel extending longitudinally through an interior of the respective hollow fiber (40).The filter device (10) further comprises a first sealing means (42) which separates the fluid chamber (18) from the first and the second compartment (24, 26), the first sealing means (42) having a first longitudinal end facing away from the second lid (30).The filter device (10) further comprises a second sealing means (46) which separates the fluid chamber (18) from the third and the fourth compartment (34, 36),the second sealing means (46) having a second longitudinal end facing away from the first lid (20). Still further, the filter device (10) comprises a fourth fluid port (50) and a fifth fluid port (52) both provided at the fluid chamber (18) and located between the first longitudinal end of the first sealing means (42) and the second longitudinal end of the second sealing means (46).