In-Situ Coating of 2-Methacryloyloxyethyl Phosphorylcholine Polymer on Polysulfone Hollow Fiber Membranes for Hemodialysis

Hemodialysis is the clinical technique used for the treatment of people suffering from the kidney diseases. Despite of the popularity of polysulfone as a membrane material for hemodialyis, the biocompatibility remains a major concern. To improve the hemocompatinility, composite hollow fiber membranes (HFMs) were prepared using with two type of commercial MPC (2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine) differentiated by solvent solubility. Polysulfone-based hollow fiber lumen was in-situ coated with MPC during coagulation. The small quantity of cross link-able MPC polymer in water and ethyl alcohol was used as bore fluid. The composite biocompatible membranes showed the presence of MPC coating on hollow fiber lumen as confirmed by the FTIR. The hemocompatibility of both the membranes was confirmed by the hemolysis and platelet adhesion. The cytocompatibility of the material was determined by growing the NIH3T3 fibroblast cell line and checking the growth of cells by confocal imaging. Both the compounds were found to be hemocompatible and cytocompatible. However the solvent used for making the bore solution has a vital role in defining final membrane morphology and performance. The membranes prepared with water based MPC has the cutoff similar to the native polysulfone membrane but the alcohol based MPC membrane has a broad cutoff. Uniform nanopores in the Psf and water based MPC HFMs was formed, whereas macropores along with nanopores are formed in the alcohol based MPC HFMs. Thus the in-situ coating process during the manufacture of the hollow fiber membrane is an attractive and economic way of making biocompatible HFMs.