WASHING FROZEN RED-BLOOD-CELL CONCENTRATES USING HOLLOW FIBERS

Today the cryopreservation of human blood products is routine. However , before reinfusion the cryoprotectant, often glycerol, has to be remo ved. We have designed a combined microfiltration diafiltration process using microporous hollow fibres for removing glycerol from frozen red blood cell concentrates. As the system can be closed to the atmospher e there is no possibility of infection of the ''washed'' blood. Thus t he post-thaw shelf life of the blood may be greatly increased. The pro cess has been optimized by minimizing both the processing time and dil uent volume required. Finally a hollow fibre module capable of complet ing the entire washing process in 30 min has been developed. We show t hat such a module requires hollow fibres with an inside diameter of 20 0 mu m. The design equations we present are generally applicable to th e design of hollow fibre microfiltration systems.