Question

It is difficult to make an artificial liver so a substitutive technology, like the dialysis machine, is being made. Which of the options is mostly considered in making such machines?

(a) Using hepatocytes to filter blood

(b) Using semi permeable membrane to filter plasma

(c) Using solutions of different organic and inorganic composition, just like dialysate, to filter blood

(d) Filtering the organic and inorganic components of the blood separately

I had been asked this question in semester exam.

My doubt stems from Artificial Organs topic in portion Rehabilitation and Recovery of Clinical Science

Answer 1

Right option is (a) Using hepatocytes to filter blood

Explanation: The liver performs multiple functions, all of which cannot be recreated externally. However, the function where the liver breaks the harmful substance into filterable substances that can be removed by the kidney. In order to achieve this, the best possible solution to use the hepatocytes, extracted from a liver and cultivated outside, to help in purification.