artificial liver


An extracorporeal supportive device for a person with acute liver failure. Bioartificial livers are not intended as permanent replacements, but as stop-gaps while one is awaiting liver transplantation. The current generation devices contain hepatocytes embedded in a gel. The patient’s plasma is removed and circulated through the device and returned, minus the metabolic wastes produced by the body which are normally removed by a healthy liver

artificial liver

Biotech A cartridge with cloned human liver cells, through which blood flows to facilitate removal of waste products. See Extracorporeal liver assist device, Liver dialysis.

artificial liver

A biomechanical device typically combining a system of filters to remove toxins from the blood with hepatic cells or tissue. It is designed to support patients with hepatic failure temporarily until a donor liver becomes available for transplantation. See also: liver

artificial liver

An as yet unrealized entity that is, nevertheless, the subject of promising research and development. Current ambitions are to produce extracorporeal devices that will enable patients with liver failure to be kept alive until regeneration of transplantation is achieved. The principal difficulty arises from the large number of different metabolic functions performed by the liver. A promising approach is the use of cloned human liver cells grown around numerous fine semipermeable tubules through which the patient's blood is passed.