The ultimate goal of the program is to develop a safe, reliable electrochemical hypochlorite generator specifically for use in the cleaning and disinfecting of reused dialyzers. Hypochlorites have been widely used by Health care facilities for the cleaning of reused dialyzers prior to sterilization with formaldehyde. An electrochemical generator system that produces sodium hypochlorite from salt (NaC1) solution on demand at set concentrations would increase safety, reproductibility and reliability of the reused dialyzer cleaning process. The quantity of hypochlorite generated would be accurately controlled by the set electric current of the generator.
The specific aims of this Phase I proposal are to determine the feasibility of developing a flow-through air-depolarized electrochemical generator system to 1) reproducibly and reliably supply hypochlorite on demand at set concentrations and 2) viably clean and remove residual blood components from used dialyzers. The methodology for achieving these goals is to 1) fabricate an air (02) depolarized sodium hypochlorite generator and conduct parametric testing to define efficiency, operating characteristics/limitations and interface requirements to other subsystems including electric and solution control components and 2) evaluate the generator for removing residual blood components from a used dialyzer and restoring the dialyzer's original solute clearance value. The research could result in the development of a nove air-depolarized hypochlorite generator that is specifically designed to clean reused dialyzers at reduced power levels. It is expected that this program will lead to the development of an oxygen depolarized sodium hypochlorite generator for commerical use in the dialysis process where reuse of the dialyzer is the ultimate goal. The hypochlorite generator will allow automation of the cleaning step to insure maximum safety, reproducibility, and effectiveness. This would enhance the reliability and quality assurance for reuse of the dialyzers.
