COMPONENT PREPARATION AND UNIT PROCESSING
COMPONENT PREPARATION (Floor Standing Centrifuge, Plasma Expressor, Tube Sealer,
⚫ Improvements in blood collection practice paved the
way for the preparation of blood units other than Fresh
Whole Blood (FWB, or WB), which could be more
advantageous in some diseases.
⚫ Components that could be prepared from a single FWB
collection:
➢ Red Blood Cell Units (as PRBCs)
➢ Leukoreduced FWB units
➢ Plasma (as Fresh Frozen Plasma, or FFP)
➢ Cryoprecipitate Antihemophilic Factor or
"Cryoprecipitate"
➢ Platelets (as Platelet Concentrates, or PC)
➢ Others
⚫ Requires that blood must be collected at certain
conditions before processing such units.
Precautions During Processing
⚫ The time when the bleeding process had terminated
after collecting a standard amount of blood is important
in some components, as this could affect its efficacy.
⚫ Temperature can also be a factor when it comes to the
viability of some cells.
⚫ In cases of blood drives, some components can and
cannot be processed because of the following reasons:
➢ Time it takes to transport collected blood
➢ Use of refrigerants as cooling agents in transport
chests
⚫ Hermetically sealed blood bags can allow the transfer of
one component to another bag without sacrificing the
purity of the unit.
Timing and Temperatures
⚫ Requirements for cooling and transportation methods
are variable and the device manufacturer’s specifications
should be completely followed.
⚫ The time and temperature at which blood units must be
transported to component preparation laboratories is
crucial in certain cases (i.e. PC preparations).
⚫ As for FFP or other plasma units, there are regulations
for timing certain plasma units, depending on what type
of plasma units you are preparing.
Storage
⚫ FWB units that will not be used for PC units should be
cooled to refrigerator temperature (1°C -6°C) as soon as
possible.
⚫ Units collected in blood drives should be stored in
shipping containers with approved cooling packs (ice or
gel packs).
Separation by Centrifugation
⚫ Preparing blood units rely on one or more centrifugation
steps.
⚫ Using other devices to express one component to
another bag (i.e. plasma expressors allow careful but
somewhat forceful transfer of one component to
another bag.
Top Load Balance pics)
Equipment Quality Control
⚫ To ensure that the equipment used in component
preparation meets operational standards, certain quality
control procedures are done to check if the equipment is
capable of providing certain conditions.
1. Floor-standing Centrifuges
⚫ Can spin 6-12 units at a time
⚫ Speed must be programmable
⚫ Able to deliver the following maintained spin conditions
at a certain duration:
➢ Separation of RBCs and Plasma: 5,000 x g for 5
minutes
➢ Light Spin (RBCs+ Platelet Rich Plasma): 2,000 x g for 3
minutes
➢ Heavy Spin (Harvesting of platelets or cryoprecipitates
from plasma): 5,000 x g for 7 minutes
2. Weighing Scales
⚫ Scales reading validation can be done by using weights
to ensure that they are operating within specifications.
3. Sealers, Welders, and Tube Segments
⚫ Welders must deliver enough radio frequency energy to
melt the PVC tubing.
⚫ Tube segments should contain tube serial numbers for
easy identification.
⚫ When sealing the bag, seal off at the end where the
needle is attached.
⚫ Tube segment creation should start where the needle
was previously attached.
4. Plasma Freezers
⚫ Should deliver freezing temperatures of up to -18°C or
colder
5. Refrigerators and Other Storage Devices
⚫ Must adhere to the FDA-regulated storage temperatures
⚫ Refrigerator temperatures and other temperature
readings (e.g. ambient temperature) should be read
every 4 hours
MAJOR BLOOD COMPONENTS
1. Whole Blood (WB) or Fresh Whole Blood (FWB)
Description
⚫ Primary component produced after collection.
⚫ Mixed with anticoagulant-preservatives (e.g. CPDA-1,
ACD-A, CPD, or CP2D)
⚫ Shelf life of 21-35 days
Uses
⚫ Separated into different components
⚫ Severe hemorrhages (Hgb up by 1 g/dL: Hct up by 3%)
⚫ Reconstituted WB for neonatal transfusions
Quality Control (OC)
⚫ Minimum Hematocrit = 38% approx.
⚫ Stored at 1°C-6°C
⚫ Standard 450mL units must have 427-521 g weight
2. Packed Red Blood Cells (PRBC)
Description
⚫ Concentrate of red blood cells with reduced volume
⚫ Plasma is expelled from the unit and Can also be
collected via apheresis
⚫ Shelf life is similar to FWB: AS may be added to extend
to 42 days
Types of Plasma Units
⚫ Fresh Frozen Plasma (FFP): plasma expressed and frozen
within 8 hours post-blood collection
⚫ Plasma Frozen Within 24 hours (PF24): expressed after 8
hours but within 24 hours
⚫ Liquid Plasma (LP): expressed plasma units that are
stored at 1°C -6°C
⚫ Apheresis Plasma: plasma collected through apheresis
⚫ Thawed Plasma: FFP or PF24 units that are thawed in a
water bath at 30°C -37°C
⚫ Convalescent Plasma: units collected from donors
previously infected with a certain illness

Uses Uses
(Similar to FWB) ⚫ Treat cases of clinically significant protein deficiencies
⚫ Can be used for nonspecific treatment of coagulation
Quality Control (OC) factor deficiencies.
⚫ Hct (without AS): 65% - 80%; (with AS): 55% -65% ➢ PF24RT24 and Thawed Plasma: treatment of stable
⚫ Stored at 1°C-6°C. Storage time depends. coagulation factor deficiencies.
⚫ Standard volume must be 250-300 mL ⚫ Thrombotic thrombocytopenic Purpura (TTP) treatment
⚫ PRBCs packed by "opening the unit have a reduced shelf ⚫ Can be used for preparing cryoprecipitate
life of 24 hours. antihemophilic factor units
⚫ Convalescent plasma: provide antibodies to infected
3. Platelet Concentrates (PCs) patients to neutralize pathogens
Description
⚫ Prepared through conventional means (RDPs) or QUALITY CONTROL
collected through apheresis (SDPs). ⚫ Plasma units (except LP) should be frozen within the
⚫ PC preparation: soft spin of WB units (separates RBCs specified time limit.
from PRP), followed by a hard spin of PRP ⚫ Shelf life and storage conditions:
⚫ Prone to bacterial contamination due to its storage ➢ FFP, AFFP and PF24: 1 year at s-18°C; 7 years at $65°C
conditions. ➢ LP: stored at ref temp; expiry is 5 days after the expiry
⚫ Requires constant agitation: promotes oxygen of the WB unit from where it was expressed
circulation. ⚫ Volume should be 200-380 mL for FFP, PF24 and LP. 200-
1,000 mL for AFFP
Uses
⚫ For treating cases of thrombocytopenia or platelet 5. Cryoprecipitate AHF
function disorders
⚫ Prevention of bleeding due to bone marrow hypoplasia Description
⚫ SDPS: prevent febrile reactions, HLA alloimmunizations, ⚫ A.k.a Cryoprecipitate or cryo
and CMV infections ⚫ Contains a precipitated concentration of factor VIII
(Antihemophilic Factor A)
QC ⚫ Prepared from FFP thawed at 1°C -6°C
⚫ Must contain 5.5 x 10%/L platelets (RDPs) or 3.0 x 1011/L ⚫ Separation of AHF is done by applying a hard spin on the
(SDPs) thawed plasma at 4°C.
⚫ pH should be maintained at > 6.2 ⚫ Also allows the harvesting of other components:
⚫ Stored at RT (20°C-24°C), placed on a platelet agitator, ➢ Fibrinogen
and turned on to apply constant agitation ➢ XIII
⚫ Shelf life is 5 days ➢ vWF
⚫ Volume ➢ Cryoglobulin
SDPS: 200-400 mL ➢ Fibronectin
RDPS: 50-70 mL
⚫ A “swirling phenomenon” must be observed Uses
⚫ Transfused to treat clotting factor deficiencies, notably
4. Plasma Units in these cases:
Description ➢ Hypofibrinogenemia
⚫ Prepared from the centrifugation of whole blood units or ➢ Factor XIII Deficiency
from platelet-rich plasma units (as Platelet-poor Plasma). ➢ Second-line therapy for von Willebrand's Disease,
⚫ Contains the following substances: Hemophilia A, and uremic bleeding
➢ Contains normal amounts of coagulation factors,
antithrombin, and ADAMTS13
➢ 300 mg Fibrinogen/100 mL
➢ 1 IU/mL of Factor V and VIII
QC
⚫ Can be stored frozen for 1 year at s-18 C
⚫ Thawed units must be transfused, frozen within or 6
hours
⚫ Pooled units have a shorter shelf life, lasting for 4 hours
only
⚫ AABB
➢ 80 IU/unit Factor VIII
➢ 150 mg fibrinogen
➢ 170 IU Ristocetin cofactor
➢ 60 IU Factor XIII