Membrane formed by an acrylonitrile-based polymer

Abstract

A permselective graft polymer is disclosed that is formed by converting into intermediate reactive sites a portion of the cyano groups of a backbone polymer containing —CH2—CH(—C≡N)— units, and grafting polyalkylene oxide polymer chains to the backbone polymer through the reactive sites. Either the backbone polymer of a polymer resin or a permselective polymer membrane can be grafted. When a resin is used, it is formed into a permselective polymer membrane using known methods. The resulting permselective membrane can be formed into hollow fibers or flat sheets for the encapsulation of living cells. The encapsulated cells are then implanted into a patient in need of the biologically active factors produced by the cells. The permselective graft polymer membrane exhibits good molecular diffusion with minimal protein adsorption.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.