Fiber spinning technology
In 1995, MEDICA S.p.A developed its first Polysulfone (PSU) hollow-fibre membrane, becoming the only Italian manufacturer of technological membranes for blood and water purification.
Fibre is one of the company's main growth areas: a dedicated clean room with an extrusion line for research and development activities has been installed at the Medolla headquarters along with three production lines at the SarMed plant.
The MediSulfone® membrane is characterised by its excellent performance in the purification of blood and aqueous solutions from contaminants, blood toxins, bacteria, viruses and endotoxins.
Its superior filtration capacity is due to the structure of the membrane, which has an inner wall characterised by a high density of small pores that define the two different available cut-off molecular weights of 15 kDa or 50 kDa.
The Versatile-PES® membrane was developed to meet the growing demand for broad-spectrum filter membranes for blood, plasma and water solutions. Thanks to its structure (polyethersulfone and polyvinylpyrrolidone polymer mix), which ensures an average pore size in the microfiltration range (approximately 0.2 μm) and good mechanical strength, Versatile-PES® is mainly used in plasma filtration and water microfiltration. More recently, additional versions of the Versatile PES® membrane with differential cut-offs (from 150 kDa to 800 kDa) have been developed for plasma fractionation applications.
Below is a summary of the main membranes developed by Medica with their main characteristics and applications:
Membranes | MWCO (KDa) | Fibre dimensions (µm): Ø int./ wall thickness |
Applications |
M-PES low flux | 10÷15 | 210/40 and 900/100 | Low Flux Dialysis |
M-PES high flux | 40÷50 | 210/40 | High Flux Dialysis |
MediSulfone® ULTRA | 15÷20 | 250/50 | Water ultrafiltration |
MediSulfone® EMO | 40÷50 | 250/50 | Hemofiltration Concentrator |
Humidification fiber | n.a. | 250/50 and 250/65 | Vapor transfer cartridge |
Versatile-PES® Small | 120÷180 | 210/40 | Apheresis |
Versatile-PES® Medium | 350÷450 | 210/40 | Apheresis |
Versatile-PES® Large | 750÷850 | 210/40 | Apheresis |
Versatile-PES® 0.15 µm | 1.000÷1.200 | 300/85 and 900/150 | Micro/plasma filtration |
Versatile-PES® 0.45 µm | 1.400÷1.600 | 300/85 | Microfiltration |
MediSulfone® and Versatile-PES® are registered trademarks of Medica S.p.A.