Macroporous hydrogel membranes for a hybrid artificial pancreas. I. Synthesis and chamber fabrication

✍ Scribed by Ronel, Samuel H. ;D'Andrea, Mark J. ;Hashiguchi, Hiroshi ;Klomp, Gregory F. ;Dobelle, William H.

• Book ID: 102871850
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1983
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 567 KB
• Volume: 17
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-9304
• DOI: 10.1002/jbm.820170512

✦ Synopsis

We report development of special macroporous semipermeable membranes and diffusion chambers made of polymerized 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (pHEMA), synthesized specifically to enclose living insulin-producing pancreatic islet cells for the treatment of diabetes. This material was selected to minimize the fibrotic encapsu-

The pore density and pore size distribution were dependent on the ratio of water to HEMA monomer and also on the crosslinker (EGDMA) concentration. A macroporous membrane resulted only when the ratio of water/HEMA monomer was greater than 50%. 1251-insulin permeability was studied in u i h . A technique is also described to fuse lation which has limited hybrid artificial pancreas efforts with other membranes, including Millipore and Nuclepore filters. the membranes to form diffusion chambers used for implantation into diabetic rats.