# A silicon nanopore membrane blood filter enabling anticoagulant free continuous renal replacement therapy for acute kidney injury

> **NIH NIH R44** · SILICON KIDNEY, LLC · 2023 · $1,019,979

## Abstract

Project Summary
Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) commonly occurs in critically ill patients in the ICU. Patients with severe AKI often
require continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) because it enables hemodynamic stability and better
volume control. Anticoagulation therapy is frequently used to keep the CRRT circuit (especially the blood filter)
from clotting as many critically ill patients are prothrombotic, and/or when CRRT is commonly performed for
multiple days. However, both systemic heparin and regional citrate anticoagulation therapy are associated with
higher costs, increased circuit complexity, and complications. Consequently, we propose to develop an
anticoagulant-free blood filter (the HemoCartridge) based on the ultra-high-flux and blood compatible silicon
nanopore membrane (SNM) technology for extended extracorporeal applications. The HemoCartridge will
operate clot free with little to no anticoagulation for the length of a CRRT session to eliminate the costs,
complexity, and complications of administering anticoagulation therapy, reduce blood loss, reduce the cost of
CRRT due to filter clotting and replacement, and reduce the risk of not delivering an adequate dialytic dose to
the critically ill AKI patient. In this SBIR Phase II proposal, we will develop a clinical-scale HemoCartridge and
then assess uremic toxin clearance and hemocompatibility on the bench top and in the anephric porcine
model.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10546997
- **Project number:** 2R44DK120242-02A1
- **Recipient organization:** SILICON KIDNEY, LLC
- **Principal Investigator:** Charles Blaha
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $1,019,979
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2019-09-19 → 2025-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10546997

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10546997, A silicon nanopore membrane blood filter enabling anticoagulant free continuous renal replacement therapy for acute kidney injury (2R44DK120242-02A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10546997. Licensed CC0.

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