A microfluidic chip-based creatinine filtration device

The number of people suffering from renal disease increases every year. One of the most common treatments (clinical care options) for renal diseases is hemodialysis. However it takes a long time and has a high cost. Therefore, the importance of artificial kidney research has risen. Filtering creatinine from blood is one of the prime renal functions. Thus, we designed a novel two channel microfluidic chip focused on that function. In order to bond the individual polydimethylsiloxane layers, we have developed a housing system using acrylic plastic frame. This method has significant advantages in changing filter membranes. We use anodic aluminum oxide for the filter membrane. We analyzed the difference in the absorbance values for various creatinine concentrations using the Jaffe reaction. For the purpose of acquiring a standard equation to quantify the creatinine concentration, we interpolated the measured data and confirmed the concentration of the filtered solution. Through this experiment, we determined how the filtration efficiency depended on the flow rate and creatinine concentration. © 2015 The Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers.