MEMBRANES HAVING IMPROVED PERFORMANCE

摘要

The present invention relates to permselective asymmetric membranes being suitable e.g. for hemodialysis, hemodiafiltration and hemofiltration of blood, and having improved sieving characteristics allowing for enhanced removal of middle molecular weight substances, e.g. inflammatory mediators having a molecular weight between 20 and 40 kDa. The membranes are modified with a polycarboxybetaine based on copolymers of vinylpyrrolidone and vinylimidazole. The invention also relates to processes for the preparation of said membranes, devices comprising said membranes, and the use of said membranes in hemodialysis, hemodiafiltration or hemofiltration of blood, as well as in bioprocessing, plasma fractionation and the preparation of protein solutions.