We have developed a new donor plasmapheresis system and clinically evaluated it. This system consists of a disposable set which has a blood bag, a plasma collection bag, a disk-type membrane plasma separator, and a special compact device which has a pressure-reducing and pressurizing chamber for blood collection.
First, 24 plasma collections were performed without any side effects at a blood center. The volume of blood collected each time was set at 200ml or 400ml. In the former case, a total of 453ml of plasma was collected in 31 minutes. In the latter case the efficiency was lower for males than in the former case. However 442ml of plasma was obtained in 28 minutes in the case of females. This result confirmed that this system was applicable when the extracorporeal volume was relatively small.
This system was further employed in an actual bloodmobile and at a contemporary blood collection site to confirm its utility.
This system was more useful than the system ordinarily used at blood centers because of its compact size and favorable acceptance by donors who had no experience of donor plasmapheresis since the procedure is same as whole blood collection.