Characterization of In Vitro Performance and Hemocompatibility of a Novel Hemofilter for Continuous Kidney Replacement Therapy

Performance and hemocompatibility are the main focus areas in the development of new hemofilters for continuous kidney replacement therapy. The novel multiFlux hemofilter features a polysulfone membrane with increased hydrophilicity to improve performance stability and hemocompatibility. In the present in vitro study, we compared the multiFlux hemofilter to established hemofilters on the market, i.e., Ultraflux AV (polysulfone-based), Prismaflex HF (polyarylethersulfone-based) and Prismaflex ST (AN69 ST-based). For the characterization of performance, dialysate-side plasma clearance of urea, creatinine and β2-microglobulin (β2M) were investigated over 24 h. Hemocompatibility was characterized in a blood recirculation setup by determining activation of platelets, plasmatic coagulation, the complement system and leukocytes. For urea and creatinine clearance, all hemofilters reached or approached the effluent limit across all time points. For β2M, the multiFlux hemofilter showed significantly higher clearance values at each time point vs. all comparators (p < 0.001) and the most stable performance over 24 h. The multiFlux hemofilter also showed a favorable hemocompatibility profile, especially in terms of platelet activation (vs. Ultraflux AV and Prismaflex HF) and complement activation (vs. all comparators). This in vitro study supports previous findings that increased membrane hydrophilicity improves performance stability and hemocompatibility of synthetic membranes.