TSU has changed the properties of a mineral needed for hemodialysis July 06, 2016, 11:13

 After these studies, scientists will be able to create a portable device for hemodialysis — blood filtration from toxic products of metabolism in the case of renal insufficiency.

Of course now there are analogs of traditional devices for hemodialysis, but with all of them, the procedure must be performed in a hospital setting, so people are tied to their place of residence. And with the new device, they will be able to go even on long trips. Hemodialysis can be done at home and in an emergency situation, — said Alexander Buzimov, co-author of the study.

Zeolite gives out and absorbs moisture well. To increase this capacity, we had to find a way to increase the specific surface area.

The natural zeolite is a solid mineral, so it is important to find the technology of chopping in order to increase its surface area — said Alexander Buzimov. Its changing under the influence of mechanical processing allows control of varying the properties of zeolites.

TSU scientists compared the synthetic zeolite SAPO-34 to natural zeolite from the Tokay deposits in Hungary. They exposed the minerals to thermal and mechanical treatment in a ball mill and found that the specific surface area of the synthetic zeolite had decreased and area of the natural had increased. There had been a change in the mineral composition of natural zeolite.

Now scientists want to combine zeolites with nanoceramic material developed by the Institute of Strength Physics and Materials Science of RAS and create a composite sieve, which will be the basis for the future hemodialysis device. The device will connect to a shunt, which is implanted under the skin of the patient. The blood will circulate through the composite sieve and will be cleaned. The scientists plan to get the new material from zeolite and nanoceramics in a year, and in two years to create the first device.