The present invention relates to an extracorporeal circuit for CO.sub.2 removal from blood comprising a line for taking blood from the patient, a decarboxylation assembly and a line for returning the blood to the patient; said decarboxylation assembly comprising a first filtering unit, an oxygenator, an electrodialyzer adapted to generate an acid solution and a basic solution and means for the infusion of said acid solution upstream of said oxygenator, wherein said electrodialyzer comprises a first electrodialysis chamber and a second electrodialysis chamber, said first and second electrodialysis chambers being separated by an ionic membrane, and in that wherein said first chamber and said second chamber are respectively separated from the positive electrode, or anode, and from the negative electrode, or cathode, by means of a bipolar membrane.

Provided is a method for cancer treatment in a patient comprising extracorporeal dialysis of blood, plasma or peritoneal fluid of the patient with a dialysis system for removing a target amino acid, and the dialysis system comprising: a dialysis machine, a dialyzer having a dialysis membrane, and a dialysate; wherein the dialyzer is connected to the dialysis machine and the dialysate flows within the dialysis machine and the dialyzer; and an enzyme for degrading the target amino acid is provided to the dialysis membrane and/or the dialysate, and the target amino acid includes asparagine, glutamine, arginine, serine, methionine or any combination thereof. By modifying dialysis to achieve in vitro amino acid deprivation and incorporating personalized diagnosis, the present invention not only provides a novel precision medicine with better anticancer efficacy and less side effects, but also requires less time and cost for development.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for the extracorporeal removal of protein-bound toxins from blood comprising at least one blood purification apparatus, in particular at least one dialysis machine, hemofilter or adsorber, as well as at least one means for generating a field in the blood purification apparatus and/or in an element in flow communication with the blood purification apparatus, in particular in a line section connected to the blood purification apparatus, wherein the means comprises at least two strip conductors which are arranged on at least two preferably oppositely disposed sides of the blood purification apparatus or of the element such that the field is preferably predominantly generated within the blood purification apparatus or preferably predominantly within the element.

Systems and methods for performing hemodialysis to remove metabolic waste from the blood of a patient are disclosed. The systems and methods preferably comprise at least one blood processing apparatus that receives whole blood from a patient. Cellular blood components are removed from the whole blood by hemofiltration, to provide filtered plasma comprising metabolic waste that is substantially reduced of blood cells. The cellular blood components may be returned to the patient. The filtered plasma comprising waste may be removed from the blood processing apparatus through a waste path for further processing in a separate apparatus, or in the same apparatus in a second stage processing procedure to remove metabolic waste components and excess water from the plasma by hemodialysis. At least one of the hemofiltration and hemodialysis processing apparatus comprises a Taylor vortex-enhanced separation apparatus.

A blood filtering device includes a filter having two compartments, at least one allows the passage of blood, being separated by a membrane allow passage of a filtered fraction from the first to the second compartment. The filtering device includes an outlet conduit to collect the filtered fraction leaving the filter. The filtered fraction flows along the outlet conduit along a flow direction. A first sensor includes at least one semiconductor laser source with a laser cavity adapted to generate a laser light beam striking the outlet conduit along an irradiation direction incident to the flow direction; and at least one front and one lateral photodiode, at least in correspondence of the semiconductor laser source, the outlet conduit is transparent to the laser light beam.

The filtering device processes said the two electrical signals to generate a signal indicative of the quantity of suspended particles moving along the outlet conduit.

The invention provides a method and an apparatus or system for dialysis. The method and apparatus or system are useful for removing an undesirable protein-binding substance such as a toxin from a biological fluid such as blood or blood plasma. As such, the method and apparatus or system are useful for treating a subject in need of dialysis such as a subject suffering from hepatic disease. The methods feature a) dialyzing a biological fluid against a dialysis fluid containing an adsorber for a protein-binding substance to be removed through a semipermeable membrane, b) adjusting the dialysis fluid so that the binding affinity of the adsorber for the protein-bound substance to be removed is lowered and the substance to be removed passes into solution, and c) balancing the volume or flow of one or more fluids in the apparatus or system suitable for dialyzing a biological fluid containing a protein-binding substance to be removed. The apparatus or system features a) a biological fluid circuit (3); b) a dialysis fluid circuit (2); c) a means (4; 6; 7; 8; 9) for solubilizing the protein-binding substance to be removed; d) a dialysis, filtration or diafiltration device (5); e) a balancing system or apparatus suitable for balancing the volume or flow of one or more fluids in the apparatus or system suitable for dialyzing a biological fluid containing a protein-binding substance to be removed; and f) a dialysate regeneration unit.

The present disclosure relates to a dialyzer comprising a bundle of semipermeable hollow fiber membranes which is suitable for blood purification, wherein the dialyzer has an increased ability to remove larger molecules while at the same time it is able to effectively remove small uremic toxins and efficiently retain albumin and larger proteins. The invention also relates to using said dialyzer in hemodialysis.

The present disclosure relates to a dialyzer comprising a bundle of semipermeable hollow fiber membranes which is suitable for blood purification, wherein the dialyzer has an increased ability to remove larger molecules while at the same time it is able to effectively remove small uremic toxins and efficiently retain albumin and larger proteins. The invention also relates to using said dialyzer in hemodialysis.

A dialysis device comprises at least a first membrane and a second membrane, wherein a first chamber formed by the first membrane is configured to receive a first fluid; a second chamber formed by the second membrane is configured to receive a second fluid; a third chamber formed in between a housing, the first membrane and the second membrane is configured to receive a third fluid; the first fluid flowing through the first membrane can be indirectly communicated with the second fluid flowing through the second membrane via the third fluid. A dialysis system, use of the dialysis device, a method for establishing the dialysis system, a method for filling and/or priming the dialysis system and a method for removing air are further disclosed. The dialysis device and the dialysis system are suitable for viscous biological dialysis fluid and no direct flow occurs between the patient and the dialysis fluid.

The present disclosure relates to a dialyzer comprising a bundle of semipermeable hollow fiber membranes which is suitable for blood purification, wherein the dialyzer has an increased ability to remove larger molecules while at the same time it is able to effectively remove small uremic toxins and efficiently retain albumin and larger proteins. The invention also relates to using said dialyzer in hemodialysis.