Apheresis
Apheresis (a Greek word meaning "to remove") is a medical technology in which the blood donor or the patient is passed through an apparatus that separates out one particular constituent and returns the remainder to the blood circulation. It is thus an extracorporeal therapy.
Plateletpheresis, like it sounds, is the collection of platelets by apheresis, while returning the RBCs, WBCs and component plasma. The yield is normally the equivalent of between six and ten random platelet concentrates.
Quality control demands the platelets from apheresis be equal to or greater than 3.0 x 1011 in number and have a pH of equal to or greater than 6.2 in 90% of the products tested and must be used within five days.
Single Donor Platelet (SDP)
| Age : | 18 -65 years |
| Weight : | More than 50 kg. |
| Hemoglobin: : | 12.5gm/dl and above |
| Blood pressure : | Systolic : 100-150 mm of Hg Diastolic : 60-90 mm of Hg |
| Pulse : | 60-100/minute |
| Platelet Count: : | 150x103/ µl |
Component Separation
Through this process, a single unit of blood is fractionized into several blood components like plasma, platelets, RCCs and leukocytes. This process facilitates the judicious and wider scope of the use of procured blood i.e. it can be given as per the patient's need.
Some of the blood components have longer storage life compared to that of whole blood. In the earlier times when one unit could help just one individual, today, thanks to the component separation technology, one unit can now save up to 3 lives!