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Figure 1. The HepatAsssist 2000 System. |
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The HepatAssist Liver Support System
The HepatAssist System is an extracorporeal, bioartificial liver support system incorporating primary hepatocytes (pig liver cells), and is designed to treat patients with acute liver failure by temporarily providing essential liver functions.
The HepatAssist System includes a hollow fiber bioreactor containing hepatocytes, two charcoal columns, a membrane oxygenator, and a pump (see Figure 2 below). The HepatAssist System is used in combination with a commercially available plasma separation machine, which diffuses plasma through the HepatAssist circuit before it is reconstituted with the blood cells and returned to the patient.
Each HepatAssist treatment lasts 6 hours. The hepatocytes are isolated, processed, and cryopreserved in compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP). Cryopreserved cells are shipped to and stored at the clinical sites, where the cells are thawed just prior to a patient treatment.
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Figure 2. Flow Diagram for the HepatAssist Bioreactor. |
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