The United States of America as Represented by the United States Energy

Medical, Incorporated

Finley W Markley

Thomas H Benham

Raymond M Lukes

A hemodialyzer in which a sealant anchors the edges of a plurality of generally planar semipermeable membranes to a generally rigid case. The moisture content of the membranes is maintained at approximately a constant value so as to prevent stress from being built up in the hemodialyzer due to changes in the dimensions of the anchored membranes with changes in moisture content. A stack of semipermeable membrane material is confined between wedge blocks within the hemodialyzer case. The wedge blocks permit the hemodialyzer to be assembled without placing shearing stresses on the membrane. Also, by trapping the last pleats of the membrane between the case and the outer surfaces of the wedge blocks the last pleats are easily encapsulated with sealant and thus sealed.

Hemodialyzer

A semipermeable membrane is folded in accordion fashion to form a stack of pleats and the edges are sealed so as to isolate the opposite surfaces of the membrane. The stack is contained within a case that provides ports for flow of blood in contact with one surface of the membrane through channels formed by the pleats and also provides ports for flow of a dialysate through channels formed by the pleats in contact with the other surface of the membrane. The serpentine side edges of the membrane are sealed by a solidified plastic material, whereas effective mechanical means are provided to seal the end edges of the folded membrane. The mechanical means include a clamping strip which biases case sealing flanges into a sealed relationship with end portions of the membrane near the end edges, which portions extend from the stack and between the sealing flanges.

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Burnsville, MN, United States of America

Finley W Markley