Dialysis with diamonds

Diamonds can become a small, safe dialysis device for patients with renal failure. Picture: New Scientist

Ultra-thin diamond films drilled with microscopic laser pores can be used as a screening device for many patients with renal impairment.

Recently, researcher Willian Fissel, Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, and colleagues at the University of Michigan (U.S.) are experimenting with an important improvement in the way diamonds are made, the tiny holes.

Each diamond film only gives molecules of a certain size through. An electric field is maintained so that protein molecules with larger dimensions do not seal the holes.

As a result, the filter is more effective than conventional membranes in filtering harmful molecules. In addition, Fissel says that the 'diamond membrane filter' is so small that it can be implanted into the patient's body and working under normal blood pressure conditions.

Kidney disease is a disease that is a dangerous and common disease in the world. In the United States alone, up to 400,000 people suffer from this disease. The only method currently available is 'dialysis', thanks to a device that works on the principle of dialysis to remove harmful substances before it enters the bloodstream, but is not the ideal solution. .

'Artificial kidney dialysis' has a bulky, high-cost device that eliminates chemicals that do not interfere with biological molecules. The most modern type eliminates medium-sized proteins such as beta-microglobulin, which is produced by the immune system. Larger proteins seal the membrane.