Pathogen Inactivated Plasma Concentrated: Preparation and Uses
Abstract
Plasma transfusion is a crucial element of casualty care. Unfortunately, two plasma components sharply limit its use: contaminants and excess water. Contamination arises because plasma must be obtained from human donors, and these donors may be infected with a wide variety of pathogens. If supply lines for military medical units are cut, such units may be forced to collect plasma from a local population suffering from high infection rates of malaria, HIV, or possibly even unknown pathogens. To reduce the risks of infection from plasma collected from either domestic or foreign sources, an effective means of plasma decontamination is therefore necessary. The second plasma problem, excess water, makes plasma difficult to freeze, transport, store, and thaw. Furthermore, this excess water limits the amount of clotting proteins that can be transfused without overloading the kidneys, and also lengthens the time required for lyophilization and other processing. An effective means of reducing the excess water in plasma is therefore necessary. Ultraviolet-C (UVC) irradiation is quite effective at decontaminating blood products. Unfortunately, UVC also has sufficient energy to split dissolved oxygen into radicals, which then severely damage the plasma proteins. The solution to this problem is simply to degas the plasma before exposing it to UVC. Without dissolved oxygen, no radicals can form under UVC exposure, thereby sparing the plasma proteins. As an additional benefit, the degassed liquid is highly susceptible to ozone, another technique that is quite effective at decontamination. This high susceptibility ensures rapid, uniform treatment. The next step is to reduce the excess water in the decontaminated plasma. The limiting factor here is that plasma proteins rapidly clog conventional filtration systems. The solution to this problem is to apply ultrasound to cold plasma. The ultrasound generates pure ice crystals, which are then removed to leave concentrated plasma.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA445019
Entities
People
- Howard E. Purdum