Chemically modified polysulfone hollow fibers with vinylpyrrolidone having improved blood compatibility.

Hydrophilic polysulfone membranes (PVP-PSf) were prepared from polysulfone membranes covalently conjugated with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) on the surface. The immobilized amount of vinylpyrrolidone on PVP-PSf membranes was controlled by the amount of vinylpyrrolidone monomer in the reaction solution and the reaction time. The PVP-PSf membranes were found to be the most hydrophilic membranes among the polysulfone and surface-modified polysulfone membranes prepared in this study. This is explained by the long hydrophilic side chain of polyvinylpyrrolidone on the PVP-PSf membranes which contributes to the hydrophilic wiper on the hydrophobic PSf membranes. It was found that PVP-PSf membranes gave lower protein adsorption from a plasma solution than polysulfone and other surface-modified membranes (p < 0.01). This is attributed to the hydrophilic surface of the PVP-PSf membranes, because the hydrophilic surface is known to reduce the protein adsorption on the membranes. The PVP-PSf membranes showed a much suppressed number of adhering platelets on the surface than polysulfone and other surface-modified membranes (p < 0.01). It is suggested that the hydrophilic surface of the PVP-PSf membranes without ionic groups causes the suppression of platelet adhesion on the PVP-PSf membranes and that the long hydrophilic side chain of polyvinylpyrrolidone on PVP-PSf membranes contributes to the hydrophilic and hemocompatible wipers on the surface of the hydrophobic PSf membranes.