Evaluation of a Novel Cuboid Hollow Fiber Hemodialyzer Design Using Computational Fluid Dynamics

Conventional hollow fiber hemodialyzers have a cylindrical shell-and-tube design. Due to their circular cross-section and radial flow distribution and collection in the headers, the flow of blood in the header as well as in the hollow fiber membranes is non-uniform. The creation of high shear stress and high shear rate zones or stagnation zones could result in problems, such as cell lysis and blood clotting. In this paper, a novel cuboid hemodialyzer design is proposed as an alternative to the conventional cylindrical hemodialyzer. The primary motivation behind the proposed design is to create uniform flow conditions and thereby minimize some of the above-mentioned adverse effects. The most salient feature of the proposed design is a cuboid shell within which the hollow fiber membrane bundle is potted. The lumen of the fibers is fed from one side using a flow distributor consisting of embedded primary and secondary channels, while the fibers are drained from the other side using a flow collector, which also has embedded primary and secondary channels. The flow characteristics of the lumen side of the cuboid hemodialyzer were compared with those of a conventional hemodialyzer based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The results of CFD simulations clearly indicated that the flow of liquid within the cuboid dialyzer was significantly more uniform. Consequently, the shear rate and shear stress were also more uniform. By adopting this new design, some of the problems associated with the conventional hemodialyzer design could potentially be addressed.