OSMOMETRY

SUBMITTED BY:
MOHNISH (18110029)

PRAPHULL SHARMA (18110039)

RAJAT JINDAL (18110043)

VERMEDEEN (18110067)

Osmometry is a technique for measuring the concentration of particles in a solution, ie, the osmolar
concentration. Osmolar concentration can be expressed in two ways-

 Osmolality expressed as mmol/kg of solvent .

 Osmolarity expressed as mmol/l of solution

Osmolality is a thermodynamically more precise expression because solution concentrations expressed

on a weight basis are temperature independent while those based on volume will vary with temperature
in a manner dependent on the thermal expansion of the solution. If a solute is dissolved in a solvent
then the following properties of the solvent change:

 osmotic pressure increases

 vapour pressure decreases
 boiling point increases
 freezing point decreases.

These are known as colligative properties and are all directly related to the total number of solute
particles per mass of solvent, ie, the osmolality. Theoretically, any of the four colligative properties could
be used as a basis for the measurement of osmolality. The most commonly used method in the case of
physiological fluids is freezing point depression.

FREEZING POINT DEPRESSION OSMOMETER

The sample is supercooled within a cooling fluid or using solid state cooling. A rapid stir mechanism is
used to initiate crystallisation. The temperature will then rise due to latent heat of crystallisation. A
thermistor (temperature-dependent resistor) reading is noted. Comparison with standards allows
calculation of the osmolality.

Determines the osmotic strength of a solution, as osmotically active compounds depress the freezing
point of a solution.
  The sample in a small tube is lowered into a chamber with cold refrigerant circulating from a
cooling point.
 A thermistor is immersed in the sample.
 To measure temperature, a wire is used to gently stir the sample until it is cooled to several
degrees below its freezing point. It is possible to cool water to as low as -40°C and still have
liquid water, provided no crystals or particulate matter is present—supercooled solution.

 Freezing can also be started by “seeding” a supercooled solution with crystals.

 When the supercooled solution start to freeze as a result of the rapid stirring, a slush is formed
and the solution actually warms to its freezing point temperature.
 The slush will remain at the freezing point temperature until the sample freezes solid and drops
below its freezing point.

VAPOUR PRESSURE OSMOMETER

A decrease in the vapour pressure of the solution results in a decrease in the dew point. The dew point
is the temperature at which the saturation vapour pressure is equal to the actual vapour pressure of the
contained water vapour.
Determines the concentration of osmotically active particles that reduce the vapor pressure of a
solution.

 The vapor pressure osmometer operates on the principle of differential vapor pressure
between a pure solvent and a solution.
 Two carefully matched thermistors are placed in a chamber saturated with solvent
vapor. When solvent is placed on both thermistors, they assume the same temperature.
 If a solution is placed on one of the thermistors, condensation heats the thermistor
until the vapor pressure is raised to that of the pure solvent.
  The change in temperature causes a resistance change in the thermistor. This change in
resistance is measured by a sensitive bridge circuit and displayed on a panel meter,
strip chart recorder and/or computer terminal.
 A calibration curve relates the change in resistance to the molal concentration of the
solution.

MEMBRANE OSMOMETRY
Measures the osmotic pressure of a solution separated from pure solvent by a semipermeable
membrane.
  The solvent is separated from the polymer solution by a semipermeable membrane which is
tightly held between the two chambers.
 The solvent chamber is filled with solvent and closed to the atmosphere except for the solvent
passage through the membrane while the solute chamber is left open to the atmosphere.
 The chemical potential of the solvent is much higher than that of the solute, therefore there is
a tendency for flow to occur from the solvent through the membrane to the polymer solution.
 Because the solvent is permitted through the membrane a change in concentration causes the
solvent to diffuse to the solute side of the chamber. As this occurs, the pressure of the solvent
decreases until the pressure difference across the membrane just counteracts the chemical
potential difference caused by the solute.
 This pressure reduction required to equilibrate the chemical potential on both sides of the
membrane is regarded as the osmotic pressure.

Tonicity
Although the terms tonicity and osmolality are often used interchangeably, there is a clear distinction.
Osmolality is a physical property dependent on the total number of solute particles present in a solution
whereas tonicity is a physiological process dependent upon the selectively permeable characteristics of
a membrane. For example, solutes such as urea and ethanol permeate cells freely and therefore will
have no e Vect on tonicity but will increase the measured osmolality.
Applications of Osmometers
Osmometers are used in an extremely broad range of application areas, primarily for clinical studies and
treatment. They are used to measure the concentration of solutes in various biological samples, from
blood plasma to human tears. These measurements can provide a rich array of data to assist in timely
diagnoses of various conditions with significantly reduced healthcare costs.

Clinical applications

URINE OSMOLALITY The collection and analysis of urine for biochemical analysis can be a very
useful technique in the evaluation of the renal handling of water. In healthy adults the urine osmolality
varies from about 50 to around 1400 mOsmol/kg depending on the state of hydration of the subject.
Thus to interpret a urine osmolality value one needs to also measure the plasma osmolality and see
whether the urine osmolality is appropriate.

Diabetes insipidus Diabetes insipidus is the inability to conserve water due to

 failure of secretion of vasopression in response to an osmotic stimulus (cranial)
 failure of the kidneys to respond to circulating vasopressin (nephrogenic)

Measurement of both the plasma and urine osmolality reveals that the urine osmolality is
inappropriately low. Further investigation is then carried out to confirm the diagnosis.

Water deprivation test

The patient is denied fluid for a period of time, usually 8 hours. The normal response to fluid deprivation
is the concentration of urine. If the urine osmolality fails to rise above 300 mOsmol/kg then the patient
probably has diabetes insipidus. The patient is then given desmopressin (DDAVP), a synthetic analogue
of vasopressin. If the urine osmolality remains below 300 mOsmol/kg then the type of disorder is
nephrogenic, whereas if the osmolality rises to greater than 750 mOsmol/kg the type is cranial. In
practice, the results are often found not to be as clear cut as this, since polyuria may result in the
washout of renal interstitial solute thus decreasing the kidneys’ concentrating ability.

Conclusion
Measurement of osmolality is simple and rapid with the instruments available today. It is most
frequently of use for analysing plasma and urine in assessing the state of water balance within a patient.
In addition, calculation of an osmolality from other measurments and the concept of an osmotic gap are
useful in the detection of substances, in plasma and sometimes in faeces. The clinical utility of its
measurement in other body fluids is limited.
DEFINITION OF TERMS
 Osmotic pressure is the minimum pressure which needs to be applied to a solution to
prevent the inward flow of water across a semipermeable membrane . 

   Refrigerant- a compound that can readily absorb heat at one temperature .

  Thermistor- a device for determining temperature; also may be used for control of
temperature.

  Slush- an equilibrium of liquid and ice crystals.

  Freezing point- a temperature at which a liquid solidifies.

 Freezing-point depression- describes the process in which adding a solute to a

solvent decreases the freezing point of the solvent.

  Vapor pressure- defined as the pressure exerted by a vapor in thermodynamic

equilibrium with its condensed phases (solid or liquid) at a given temperature in a closed
system. 

  Condensation- the change of water from its gaseous form (water vapor) into liquid
water .

 Pure solvent- a substance or liquid that is able to dissolve another substance within itself .

  Molal concentration- also called as molality— defined as the number of moles of

solute dissolved per kilogram of solvent (mol/kg = m).