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

Segen's Medical Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.

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.

McGraw-Hill Concise Dictionary of Modern Medicine. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

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.

Collins Dictionary of Medicine © Robert M. Youngson 2004, 2005