Definition

1. Noun:
   • A medical instrument for separating substances in solution by unequal diffusion through semipermeable membranes: A "dialyzer" is a device used in medical procedures, such as hemodialysis, to filter waste products, excess salts, and fluids from the blood when the kidneys are not functioning properly.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The hospital uses a modern dialyzer for its hemodialysis treatments.
  • The technician prepared the dialyzer before connecting the patient to the dialysis machine.

Advanced Usage

• Technical Context: In nephrology, a "dialyzer" is often referred to as an "artificial kidney" due to its function of mimicking kidney filtration.
  • The efficiency of a dialyzer is measured by its surface area and membrane permeability.

Variants and Related Words

• Dialyse (Verb, chiefly British English): To subject to dialysis; to separate by dialysis.
  • The solution needs to be dialysed to remove impurities.
• Dialysate (Noun): The fluid that passes through the membrane of a dialyzer, containing the removed substances.
  • The used dialysate is discarded after the treatment.
• Dialysis (Noun): The process of separating particles in a liquid solution, especially as a medical treatment.
  • The patient undergoes dialysis three times a week.

Synonyms

• Hemodialyzer: Specifically refers to a dialyzer used for blood filtration.
• Artificial kidney: A descriptive synonym highlighting the device's function.

Related Phrases

• Hollow-fiber dialyzer: A common type of dialyzer where the semipermeable membrane is composed of thousands of tiny hollow fibers, providing a large surface area for filtration.
  • Most modern clinics use hollow-fiber dialyzers.

Noun

1. a medical instrument for separating substances in solution by unequal diffusion through semipermeable membranes