Toray announces blood purification fiber technology

Japanese fiber and textile developer Toray has combined nanotechnology and fiber technology to create a cross-shaped polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) nanopore fiber that it claims can adsorb pathogenic proteins in the blood. 

The company developed the fiber using its PMMA hollow fiber membrane spinning technology. Changing the nanopore size on the surface and inside the fiber makes it possible to control the types of protein that this material adsorbs, Toray says. The fiber’s cross-shaped cross section has a larger surface area than fibers with round ones. This provides much better contact between the blood and fiber and significantly enhances protein adsorption efficiency.

The company will push forward with efforts to develop and swiftly commercialize small, patient-friendly, high-performance adsorption columns for proteins. The company believes that this could become “a fundamental blood purification technology” for a range of protein adsorption columns that cause diseases.