The present disclosure describes a novel therapeutic apheresis system and, more specifically, methods and an apparatus for performing therapeutic apheresis. The present disclosure provides highly efficient methods for therapeutic apheresis that modulate the immune system, thereby resulting in treatment of one or more underlying immunological disease processes. In some embodiments, the disclosed methods return at least a portion of blood from an extracorporeal circuit to a patient in pulsatile flow, where the portion of blood that is returned is augmented. In other embodiments, the disclosed methods and apparatus use the central arterial system to exchange volumes of plasma to immunomodulate disease processes. The disclosed methods combine concepts of intermittent flow and continuous flow therapeutic apheresis with established cardiovascular concepts. In addition, the disclosed methods reduce the amount of time spent by patients in therapeutic apheresis sessions and decrease patients' dependence on immunological drugs that may have detrimental adverse effects.

The embodiments of the present disclosure provide a manufacturing method of mitochondria-rich plasma. The mitochondria-rich plasma can increase the cell viability of damaged cells, decrease the cellular senescence level, repair the oxidative damage of cells, and relieve the inflammation of hair follicles so as to achieve the purpose of promoting hair regrowth.

Systems and methods for cleansing blood are disclosed herein. The methods include acoustically separating undesirable particles bound to capture particles from formed elements of whole blood. After introducing the capture particles to whole blood containing undesirable particles, the whole blood and capture particles are flowed through a microfluidic separation channel. At least one bulk acoustic transducer is attached to the microfluidic separation channel. A standing acoustic wave, imparted on the channel and its contents by the bulk acoustic transducer, drives the formed elements and undesirable particles bound to capture particles to specific aggregation axes. After aggregating the particles, the formed elements exit the separation channel through a first outlet and are returned to the patient. The undesirable particles, bound to the capture particles, exit through a second outlet and can be discarded to saved for later study.

A computer-implemented method comprises providing a fluid circuit comprising fluid pathways configured to mount and associate with a durable processing device comprising a pressure sensor in communication with a controller and a fluid pathway. A container is connected to the pressure sensor and may receive a volume of fluid. A change in pressure values between a first and second time is measured from when the volume of fluid is not in communication with the pressure sensor to when the volume of fluid is in communication with the pressure sensor, the volume of fluid within the container or a presence or absence of a fluid connection to the fluid pathway based on the change in pressure values is determined, and a response action is executed if the volume of fluid within the container is not within an authorized volume range for the time period, or if a fluid connection is unauthorized.

Systems and methods are provided for improving efficiency and quality of plasma being removed from a blood separation chamber. The system includes a separation chamber in which plasma is separated from cellular blood components, a pump for moving the plasma and an outlet line for removing the separated plasma from the blood separation chamber. An optical sensor assembly is configured to monitor the blood separation chamber and measure an interface position between the separated component and the plasma, and to generate an output indicative of the measured interface position. A controller is programmed to utilize a lipid concentration input of the blood and to set an original lipemia offset, a lipemia threshold and lipemia final setpoint from a predetermined database, and to use a proportional-integral-derivative control loop to assess the actual interface position plus the lipemia threshold to adjust and achieve a final lipemia setpoint for use during separation procedures.

A device and associated method for centrifuging a physiological fluid includes a container including a tip, a base, and a barrel extending between the tip and the base to hold a physiological fluid. The container includes a plunger positioned within the barrel of the container. The plunger includes a concave collection surface that faces the tip of the container. A plunger gasket seal is in sealing engagement with an inside wall of the barrel of the container. A bottom support is provided to support the base of the container at least partially within the bottom support for use in a centrifuge. The container is coupled to the bottom support using an interference fit. The collection surface of the plunger and at least the barrel can be made of the same material. Advantageously, the device can be used to process blood without the need for any added anticoagulant in the blood.

Described are embodiments that include methods and devices for separating composite liquids into components. Embodiments involve the use of a flexible membrane for separating a composite liquid into components. The composite liquid may include, in embodiments, a cellular containing liquid, such as whole blood or components of whole blood. In one specific embodiment, the composite liquid is a buffy coat.

An optical sensor device configured for use in combination with a fluid flowing through a tubing, the optical sensor device includes a light source configured to emit a light, with at least a portion of the light being exposed to a fluid in the tubing and reflected, an optical sensor configured to receive at least a portion of the reflected light and analyze at least a portion of the received reflected light to determine a reflectance measurement, and a controller configured to correlate the reflectance measurement to an input particulate level and generate an output indicative of the fluid flow rate corresponding to the reflectance measurement. Also disclosed is a method of optically measuring fluid flow rate in a fluid processing system including optically monitoring fluid flow through a transparent portion of a tubing by measuring light reflectance of particles in the fluid.

A method for continuously washing packed red blood cells includes (1) transferring, at a first flow rate, packed red blood cells from a container to a separation device and (2) transferring, at the same time as the packed red blood cells, wash solution from a container to the separation device. The wash solution may be transferred at a second flow rate that is greater than the first flow rate. The wash solution mixes with the packed red blood cells within the inlet line of the separation device and dilutes/washes the packed red blood cells. The separation device separates the red blood cells from the wash solution and a supernatant. The method may then monitor the volume of washed red blood cells within the separation device and begin to extract the washed red blood cells into a red blood cell product container when a target volume is collected within the separation device.

A process for preparing blood components from blood, by means of a biomedical device (16), comprising the steps of: subjecting an isolated blood sample (1) to a first centrifugation at a speed of 250 rpm for a time of 10 minutes, and to a second centrifugation at a speed of 2000 rpm for a time of 15 minutes.