Compact Ruggedized Field-Use Platelet Apheresis

Hemorrhage is the main cause of preventable deaths on the battlefield, and the survival of soldiers who suffered a catastrophic wound is inversely proportional to the speed of receiving blood or blood components. In the expeditionary environment transfusion using stored whole blood is not realistic due to the stringent storage requirements for whole blood. Using a donor is also not possible because the removal of substantial intravascular volumes of blood leaves the donor temporarily out of the fight. To overcome these drawbacks, Naval medical facilities store the components of whole blood; except for platelets which have a shelf life of only five to eight days. Field apheresis will allow platelets to be collected from a single donor, on site, so that they are available to the severely injured.TDA Research, Inc (TDA), in collaboration with University of Alabama, Birmingham (UAB), proposes to develop a compact, single-person carry, ruggedized, battery operated, automatic platelet apheresis device to provide fresh, leukocyte-reduced platelets in the field