Microwave Blood Thawing: Biochemical Analysis of Small Samples of Thawed Red Blood Cells

摘要

Frozen storage of packed red blood cells (pRBCs) increases the 35 day shelf life of liquid storage to several years, thereby decreasing the wastage of unused blood and increased the availability of rare blood types. These frozen pRBC units are currently thawed in a warm water bath, a practice which has been reported to contaminate a small percentage of units. A dry thawing method would eliminate the contamination risk encountered when using water baths. One potential dry heat source is microwave energy. However, before microwave thawing can be used clinically, its effects upon the structure and function of red blood cells (RBCs) must be thoroughly examined. The goal of this study is to determine the feasibility of using microwave energy as a dry thaw method for frozen pRBCs.