Development research leads to Canada’s first plasma reduced HPC unit

The Issue

Apheresis machines are used to isolate autologous blood stem cells from adult donors (a.k.a. Human Progenitor Cells (HPC)). An update in HPC apheresis system technology at the Edmonton hospital led to higher HPC collection volumes as additional plasma was being collected with the stem cells. This resulted in greater DMSO (freezing solution) load to patients and unacceptably long transfusion times. Canadian Blood Services Stem Cell Manufacturing Lab had to optimize its process to maintain product quality.

The Evidence

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