EXTRACORPOREAL BLOOD TREATMENT DEVICE FOR REMOVING BLOOD TOXINS, AND METHODS THEREOF

摘要

The present invention relates generally to devices and methods for removing cell mediators from blood, including bloodborne toxins and microorganisms. Aspects of the invention relate to devices and methods for removing target molecules from the blood using a diluent system (114), a hemoconcentrator/filter system (106, 110) and for subsequently removing target molecules from the ultrafiltrate using additional filtration (112) for endotoxins and cell mediators before returning the treated blood to a source. Ultraviolet irradiation (104) is used in some embodiments of the invention. In one aspect, an antimicrobial device is used to inactivate at least 99% of bloodborne microorganisms, a hemoconcentrator/filtration unit is used to remove approximately 50-75% of target molecules from the blood and a filter unit is used to remove target molecules from blood from the sieved plasma filtrate.