DIALYSIS AND OSMOSIS

What is dialysis?
Dialysis is a treatment that removes waste and fluid from the body when kidneys no longer work well
enough to keep the body healthy.
Dialysis works on the principles of the diffusion of solutes and ultrafiltration of fluid across a semipermeable membrane. Blood flows by one side of a semi-permeable membrane, and a dialysate or fluid
flows by the opposite side. Smaller solutes and fluid pass through the membrane. The blood flows in one
direction and the dialysate flows in the opposite. The counter-current flow of the blood and dialysate
maximizes the concentration gradient of solutes between the blood and dialysate, which helps to remove
more urea and creatinine from the blood.
Diffusion: A type of passive transport (non-energy requiring) involving the movement of small
molecules from an area where they are highly concentrated to an area where they are less
concentrated.
Semi-permeable membrane: allows certain molecules or ions to pass through diffusion.
How dialysis works? By filtering waste products
Excess wastes and water pass from the blood into a special liquid called the dialysis fluid for removal
from the body by a process called diffusion.
1. A thin layer of natural tissue (in Peritoneal Dialysis) or of synthetic plastic (in Haemodialysis),
known as the dialysis membrane, keeps the blood apart from the dialysis solution (also called the
dialysis fluid, or the dialysate).
2. Blood cells are too big to pass through the dialysis membrane, but wastes and water can diffuse
through (that is, travel across) it into the dialysis solution.
3. Diffusion is complete. Body wastes have diffused through the membrane. There are equal
amounts of waste in the blood and the dialysis solution.
4. Wastes are removed by removing the dialysis fluid.
The two major forms of dialysis are hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis. In hemodialysis, your blood is
sent through a filter that removes waste products. The clean blood is returned to your body.
Hemodialysis is usually performed at a dialysis center three times per week for 3 to 4 hours.
Hemodialysis(Source: http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/yourkidneys/)

In peritoneal dialysis, a fluid is put into your abdomen. This fluid captures the waste products from your
blood. After a few hours, the fluid containing your bodys wastes is drained away. Then, a fresh bag of
fluid is dripped into the abdomen.
Peritoneal dialysis

Source: http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/yourkidneys/
A solution of AgNO3 diffused from the membrane. When a few drops of HCl was added in the
dialysate, a white precipitate of AgCl was formed.
Osmosis
One of the basic processes in living systems is that of osmosis. Osmosis is defined as the passage
of water across a semi permeable membrane to an area of greater solute concentration.

Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikibooks/en/e/ed/Osmosis_experiment.JPG

When the dialysis bag containing 10% sucrose solution was placed in the beaker containing
distilled water, the level of the solution in the bag (concentrated solution) increases. This happens
because the two solutions try to attain the same concentration by diffusion. The membrane has to
be semipermeable, that is it has to allow the passage of the solvent but not of the solute. The
molecules of the solvent have to be smaller than those of the dissolved substance. In practice, this
condition is very frequent given that the molecules of water are very small. It is necessary to
remember that it is possible to make solutions with other liquids also. Osmosis is the tendency of
the system to reach the same concentration in both solutions. It is a phenomenon of great
importance in biology and which is also the basis of the function of the kidney, of the absorption
of water by plants and which is used by industries to concentrate or to purify solutions. In fact,
applying a pressure on the side of the more concentrated solution, it is possible to reverse the
process and cause the solvent to pass to the less concentrated solution. This is the process of the
reverse osmosis. It is used also to purify water, to concentrate solutions, etc.
Types of osmosis
Effect of different solutions on blood cells

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmosis
1. If the medium is hypotonic a dilute solution, with a higher water concentration than the cell the
cell will gain water through osmosis. When a cell is placed in a hypotonic solution, the water diffuses into
the cell, causing the cell to swell and possibly explode. This bursting process is called hemolysis
(hema=blood; lysis=to burst).
2. If the medium is isotonic a solution with exactly the same water concentration as the cell there
will be no net movement of water across the cell membrane.
3. If the medium is hypertonic a concentrated solution, with a lower water concentration than the cell
the cell will lose water by osmosis. When a cell is placed in a hypertonic solution, the water diffuses
out of the cell, causing the cell to shrivel. Blood cells placed in a hypertonic solution will have a reverse
reaction to the hypotonic solution. Water will rush out of the cell thus causing the cell to shrink. This
shrinking process is plasmolysis.