Process Triples Filtering Time for Donated Blood

An enhancement to red blood cell collection technology triples the time within which donated blood can be filtered to remove leukocytes, allowing blood to be now filtered for up to three days after donation. The new protocol has been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Previously, blood had to be filtered within 24 hours of donation. Donor leukocytes are removed because they can cause transfusion complications in transfusion recipients, such as fever, chills, or more serious reactions to blood. Based on the medical risk and clinical benefits of leukoreduction, many countries have mandated leukoreduction of blood as a matter of public policy.

The enhancement was developed by Haemonetics Corp. (Braintree, MA, USA; www.haemonetics.com). "Our customers can now leukoreduce at a time that fits best with their standard operating procedures to ensure the highest quality blood product, to provide increased operational efficiency,” said Dr. Mark Popovsky, vice president and corporate medical director.

Haemonetics' MCS+ system automates traditional whole blood collection methods to simultaneously collect blood components from blood donors and return the unused blood components to the donors, which allows donors to safely donate twice the number of red cells donated by traditional manual techniques. Both blood banks and donors benefit from the procedure.




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