Experiments on the preparation of blood components with the IBM 2991 blood cell processor

Experiments were carried out with the IBM 2991 Blood Cell Processor in order to study the sedimentation behaviour of blood cells from human ACD blood during centrifugation. Based on this behaviour procedures were developed for plasmapheresis and leucapheresis using the Blood Cell Processor. Accumulation of platelets was observed to occur at the plasma-cell interface during centrifugation at 1,000 g; this led to the development of a one-step method for the preparation of platelet concentrates.