| abstract |
The present invention provides a method to extract a substantial portion of the water content of the spent dialysis fluid by simple osmosis in which water is extracted down a concentration gradient to dilute a concentrated electrolyte solution then by reverse osmosis in which more water is extracted and used to further dilute the concentrate to obtain a regenerated dialysis fluid. A complementary method for urea removal is added to the osmosis treatment. By eliminating the need for a large supply of exogenous water, the present invention allows the construction of portable and wearable dialysis units. |