Abstract: There is provided a method of reducing blood free light chain concentration in a subject, the method comprising the step of subjecting the subject's blood to haemodialysis, haemodiafiltration or haemofiltration. There is also provided the use of a dialysis membrane which is a membrane that allows passage of molecules having a molecular weight of up to 45 kDa in presence of whole blood, and has a molecular weight exclusion limit in water of about 200 kDa in the preparation of a haemodialysis unit for conducting haemodialysis, haemodiafiltration or haemofiltration on a subject to reduce blood free light chain concentration in the patient.

Abstract: The present invention provides a separating material producable by a) providing a solid substrate, having amino-functional groups coupled to the substrate surface, b) covalently coupling of the amino-functional groups with a thermally labile radical initiator, c) contacting the substrate surface with a solution of polymerizable monomers under conditions, where thermally initiated graft copolymerization of the monomers takes place, to form a structure of adjacent functional polymer chains on the surface of the substrate.

Abstract: The membrane producible by shaping a polymer blend or a block copolymer comprising blocks of monomer units, loading the polymer blend or block copolymer with a blowing gas concentration within the polymer blend or block polymer above a critical concentration at a temperature below a critical temperature, but above the glass transition temperature of the polymer blend/gas or block copolymer/gas mixture and finally stabilizing the foam structure is characterized in that as polymer blend a homogeneous polymer blend comprising at least one hydrophilic and at least one hydrophobic polymer and/or a block copolymer of alternating blocks of hydrophilic and hydrophobic monomer units is used, both the polymer blend and the block copolymer having a solubility relating to the used foaming gas above the critical concentration. The said membrane is used for medical purposes, especially for the haemodialysis, haemofiltration, haemodiafiltration, plasmapherese, immunotherapy, micro- or ultrafiltration or gas separation.

Abstract: A process for production of a microporous affinity membrane having regioselective affinity for compounds in blood or other biologically active fluids to be removed during purification of blood or said fluids is disclosed, as well as a microporous affinity membrane produced by said process, an adsorption device containing such a microporous affinity membrane, and use of such a microporous affinity membrane.

Abstract: This invention describes blood treating material having the capacity to selectively remove endotoxin and cytokine inducing substances from blood or plasma by extracorporeal adsorption for therapeutic septic shock treatment. The endotoxin adsorption ligands of the invention are oligopeptides synthesized from amino acids having a pk>7.2 such as arginine, lysine or histidine, using a polycondensation step such that the resultant oligopeptides exhibit a high degree of polydispersity. Also provided are methods and devices using an adsorbent having a polydisperse oligopeptide of the invention immobilized on a solid state support medium for removing endotoxin from the blood of human or animal subject.

Abstract: Heat-sterilizable membranes are disclosed comprising at least two hydrophobic polymers which are normally immiscible with each other, and in which at least one of the hydrophobic polymers is normally unstable under sterilization conditions while at least one of the other hydrophobic polymers is normally stable at sterilization conditions, and in which the at least two hydrophobic polymers are compatibilized with each other so that the membrane formed therefrom is stable at such sterilization conditions.