Polymeric Membrane Materials for Artificial Organs

Many polymeric materials have already been used in the field of artificial organs. However, the materials used in artificial organs are not necessarily created with the best material selectivity and materials design, therefore, the development of synthesized polymeric membrane materials for artificial organs based on well-defined designs is required. The approaches to the development of biocompatible polymeric materials fall into three categories 1. control of physicochemical characteristics on material surfaces, 2. modification of material surfaces using biomolecules, and 3. construction of biomimetic membrane surfaces. This review will describe current issues regarding polymeric membrane materials for use in artificial organs. Biomolecular response to polymeric materials It is well known that when synthetic polymers contact the tissues and blood of living organisms and the body of the organism recognizes the polymeric materials as foreign substances, thrombus formation, the immune reaction and the inflammatory reaction will be triggered. Thrombus formation is a complex cascade reaction in which various components in blood perform their role the major factors of thrombus formation include insoluble fibrin production by various plasma protein-based cascade reactions of coagulation factors, white thrombus formation by coagulation of platelets and acceleration of white blood cell adherence.