System Processes Patient's Blood During Surgery

A new platelet separator processes blood collected from a patient during surgery that can be used in various ways to help the patient. This autologous platelet separator has been cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Use of components from a patient's own blood is increasingly preferred at a time of shortages of banked blood and concern about blood-borne diseases. The new system, called Magellan, was engineered to separate and concentrate blood platelets, which can be used in a number of ways in general surgery and in orthopedic, cardiovascular, and vascular surgery. The system uses density differences and gentle centrifugal forces to separate the plasma containing important growth factors from a blood sample and deposits these components into a separate sterile syringe. It only requires a small sample (30-60 cc). Surgeons can mix the platelet-rich plasma with an activator for a variety of applications and procedures, depending on the patient's needs.

The Magellan system was developed by Medtronic, Inc. (Minneapolis, MN, USA). "With the Magellan system, we continue to promote blood conservation and blood-separation therapies and elevate these technologies to the next level,” said Jan Shimanski, vice president and general manager, Medtronic Biologic Therapeutics and Diagnostics.




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