Comparison of Radiofrequency Energy and Warmwater Thawing of Cryopreserved RedBlood Cells

摘要

Units of cryopreserved packed red blood cells (pRBCs) were thawed either withwarm water or with radiofrequency (RF) energy at 27.12 MHz and applied with a helical coil system. Cell metabolism, membrane integrity, and hematological parameters were used to assess postthaw cell viability. Results showed that a small amount of RF-induced cell damage due to localized overheating could not be eliminated, but there were no significant differences in the viability comparisons between groups. We concluded that the RF thawing of pRBCs produced no deleterious effects per se, but secondary heat damage prevented this method from being considered a practical modality given the presently available tools.