Toray Industries announced that it has created an innovative fiber adsorbent for purifying blood that selectively eliminates bio-targets, such as cells and proteins, by controlling the surface morphology and chemical structure of sea-island composite fiber (1) through the application of synthetic fiber spinning technology. This new fiber adsorbent is expected to improve performance and safety compared with conventional fiber adsorbents. Toray will pursue research with the goal of beginning clinical trials in fiscal 2019.
The fiber adsorbent developed by Toray can selectively eliminate only the cells that induces inflammation, as well as proteins without eliminating the cells and proteins essential for maintaining health. The types of cells and proteins that are eliminated can be independently controlled by changing the surface morphology of the fiber or by chemical modification. Using its innovative spinning technology, NANODESIGN®, Toray sucessfully controlled on a nanoscale, the arrangement of highly reactive polymers susceptible to structural change and chemical modification with stable polymers that maintain fiber strength.
(1): Sea-island composite fiber: A composite fiber produced when one fiber is spun from two or more types of polymer materials and arranged in such a way that the fiber enables an artificial "island" to float in the "sea".
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