BIO-ARTIFICIAL LIVER

ABSTRACT

The liver is the largest gland in our body and performs a variety of tasks that impact all parts of the body, a spongy mass of wedge-shaped lobes that has many metabolic and secretary functions. The liver secretes bile, a digestive fluid; metabolizes proteins, carbohydrates, and fats; stores glycogen, vitamins, and other substances; synthesizes blood-clotting factors; removes wastes and toxic matter from the blood.

 As a result, liver disease has widespread effects on virtually all other organ systems. The only treatment available for liver failure is liver transplant surgery; but donor organs are difficult to obtain, and the procedure, which is complex and expensive, is frequently unsuccessful. Remarkably, the liver is the only organ that can regenerate itself. Numerous attempts have been made over the past 30 years to develop a technique to provide either partial or total metabolic support for the patient with a failing

Liver. The technical and clinical objective is to provide a temporary liver assist until a patient's own liver regenerates or until a liver transplant can be performed.

By using a special technique of naturally available resources like animal cells and synthetic membrane we are able to create

bio artificial liver, which performs 90% of liver functions. It will be a boon for those suffering from liver failure.

                                                INTRODUCTION:

The only treatment available for liver failure is liver transplant surgery; but donor organs are difficult to obtain, and the procedure, which is expensive and complex, is frequently unsuccessful.

A workable artificial liver is desperately needed. Unlike the heart and the kidneys, the liver is able to regenerate; many people who have suffered liver damage would survive if they could be supported by an artificial liver until their own livers heal. The device could also save the lives of hepatitis victims, and offer a means of survival for the millions of people whose livers are in failure. And, an artificial liver could support patients awaiting transplant surgery, or waiting for a new donor organ after a transplant has failed.

It seemed that developing an artificial liver would be impossible. The liver is an extremely complex organ. It performs a variety of functions, and many of them are still poorly understood. One science journalist speculated that the equipment needed to simulate the functions of a single human liver would occupy a large office building.

Here a completely different approach to developing an artificial liver is used instead of trying to design mountains of equipment to perform each of the liver's functions, a device that uses liver cells obtained from animals. Because the device contains both biological and manufactured components, it is called a "bio-artificial liver." A patient's blood circulates through this bio-artificial liver, where a unique synthetic membrane separates it from the animal cells. The membrane prevents immunologic rejection of the cells, but allows the cells to detoxify the blood in the same way as a natural liver. Disposable units can be used for a series of brief treatments, as with kidney dialysis. Already, the bio-artificial liver has saved the life of a man who was dying of liver failure because cancer had blocked his bile duct.

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CONCLUSION:

As the indications for liver transplantation have expanded and as donor organs have failed to keep pace, the need for an artificial liver has become more critical. Given that the regenerative capacity of the liver is practically unlimited, the liver can usually recover sufficient function to sustain life if function can be supported for a few weeks. If an artificial liver were routinely available, many patients with liver failure might recover without liver transplantation. In the end, bioartificial livers will probably be used as a bridge to transplantation, to support patients with acute processes through the recovery phase, and to improve quality of life for patients with chronic liver disease.