Automated bone marrow concentration using the Fresenius AS 104 blood cell separator

We concentrated freshly taken bone marrow (BM) pooled from 21 patients from an original 1.265 ml (+/- 537 ml) down to 128 ml (+/- 36 ml) within 40-70 min with a modified version of the 'grancollect protocol' on the Fresenius AS 104 blood-cell separator using the P1-Y set. An average of 47% (+/- 21%) fo the initially present mononuclear cells and 68% (+/- 47%) of the colony-forming cells could be obtained in the concentrate. The erythrocyte concentration was reduced to 7% (+/- 4%) of the original amount. The technique described is very effective and makes is possible to obtain a BM cell population that is suitable for both immunomagnetic purging and cryopreservation or transplantation, e.g. in the case of blood group incompatibility.