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US 6,669,905 B1Granted
Systems and methods for collecting plasma that is free or virtually free of cellular blood species
AssigneeBaxter International Inc.
InventorsJean Marie Mathias, Agneta Blom, Luc Mespreuve, Daniel Vandendaul, Jean-Marc Payrat
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems and methods treat plasma by separating targeted blood cell species such as red blood cells and platelets from the plasma by filtration through hydrophilic polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes.
Claims10
A system for treating plasma comprising
- tubing adapted to be coupled to a source of plasma to convey plasma from the source,
- a filter in the tubing to separate aggregates and targeted cellular blood species including red blood cells and platelets from plasma conveyed from the source container, the filter including a prefilter that removes aggregates from plasma, the filter further including, arranged sequentially in a downstream flow direction from the prefilter, first and second hydrophilic polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes having pores sized to remove the targeted cellular blood species from plasma by exclusion, the pores of the first PVDF membrane being about 1.0 m in average size and having a porosity that is characterized by a water bubble point of between about 8.5 psi and 13 psi, the pores of the second PVDF membrane being about 0.65 m in average size and having a porosity that is characterized by a water bubble point of between about 15.5 psi and 20.6 psi.
A method for treating plasma comprising the steps of
- harvesting plasma from whole blood, and
- removing all or virtually all of red blood cells and platelets from the plasma by filtration through a prefilter that removes aggregates from plasma and, arranged sequentially in a downstream flow direction from the prefilter, porous first and second hydrophilic polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes, the first PVDF membrane having pores about 1.0 μm in average size and having a porosity that is characterized by a water bubble point of between about 8.5 psi and 13 psi, the second PVDF membrane having pores about 0.65 μm in average size and having a porosity that is characterized by a water bubble point of between about 15.5 psi and 20.6 psi.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.