A Critical Analysis on Various Technologies and Functionalized Materials for Manufacturing Dialysis Membranes

Abstract Renal failure is one of the major health issues faced by many people worldwide. 10% of the population worldwide is affected by chronic kidney disease (CKD), and millions die each year because they do not have access to affordable treatment. Over 2 million people worldwide currently take treatment with dialysis or a kidney transplant to stay alive, yet this number may only represent 10% of people who actually need treatment to live. These renal failure patients either go for kidney transplantation or undergo dialysis treatment. When the kidneys don't work properly, dialysis is used to perform the kidneys function. Dialysis is a method of treatment which is used to filter and purifies the blood using a machine. Dialysis set up uses a semipermeable membrane to filter blood from the dialysate. The dialysis membrane plays a vital role in the treatment. The qualities of membrane material used in dialysis determine the nature of the traffic between the blood and dialysate. The qualities of the membrane material can be determined by the size of molecule move from one to another compartment, amount and by rate at which they might move, permeability, hydrophilicity, and biocompatibility. Comparing with currently used polymer membranes, composite membranes have clear pore channels and higher porosity. More specifically, these membranes contain polymeric nanofiber as high porous nano woven matrix. They also contain nano-filler as an adsorbent for the toxins. These membranes are better than currently used hemodialysis membranes and silicon membranes. This brief review will explore the different types of membrane material made from electrospinning techniques, biocompatible polymeric membrane, microfluidic dialysis membranes. This review also critically discusses about the existing membrane material for hemodialysis from various feasible source and how membrane material can be improved by adding different additives.