THE LONG-TERM OBJECTIVES AND SPECIFIC AIMS ARE DIRECTED TOWARDS THE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW PLATELET HARVESTING DEVICE FOR SEPARATING PLATELET-RICH PLASMA FROM 450-ML UNITS OF WHOLE HUMAN BLOOD FROM RANDOM DONORS FOR CLINICAL USE.

THE LONG-TERM OBJECTIVES AND SPECIFIC AIMS ARE DIRECTED TOWARDS THE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW PLATELET HARVESTING DEVICE FOR SEPARATING PLATELET-RICH PLASMA FROM 450-ML UNITS OF WHOLE HUMAN BLOOD FROM RANDOM DONORS FOR CLINICAL USE. METHODOLOGY TO ACCOMPLISH THESE GOALS IN THE "PHASE I" STAGE OF THIS PROPOSED STUDY ARE: (A) TO SCALE UP THE SMALL MODEL (21 ML) PLATELET SEPARATOR WHICH IS BASED ON A PRINCIPLE OF COUNTER-FLOW DISPLACEMENT AND DEPTH FILTRATION; (B) TO DESIGN THE SCALED-UP SYSTEM USING STERILECLOSED AND DISPOSABLE BAGS; AND (C) TO EVALUATE SYSTEMATICALLY EACH OF THE TWO DEVICES (PROTOTYPE I AND II) IN TERMS OF THE EFFICIENCY AND QUALITY OF THE COLLECTED PLATELET-RICH PLASMA.