JPS6230781B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

The present invention relates to an improved device for separating blood components by gravitational sedimentation. Blood consists of plasma components and blood cell components such as red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. In recent years, in blood transfusions, instead of transfusing collected blood as it is, it has become increasingly common to separate the blood into its components and transfuse only the specific components needed by each patient. If blood is allowed to stand still, blood cell components will gradually precipitate and plasma will be separated, but the rate of separation is slow. For this reason, separation methods using centrifuges have been widely adopted in the past, without relying on sedimentation due to gravity. However, this method requires an expensive centrifugal separator, its power, and safety equipment. The present inventors have conducted intensive studies to provide an apparatus that can efficiently obtain components of blood excluding red blood cells through the sedimentation effect of gravity without using such artificial centrifugal force. It was discovered that the coagulated red blood cell aggregates formed as a result of the mutual adhesion of the red blood cells, which formed as a result of the mutual adhesion of the red blood cells, quickly settled. invented a device that can efficiently separate blood without placing it in a centrifugal field (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 131451/1983). The inventors of the present invention have carried out intensive studies to more easily produce a device with such excellent characteristics, and as a result, the blood that has passed through the many thin tubular flow channels has formed coagulated clots in the form of rouleaux. The present inventors have discovered that blood is formed and rapidly precipitated, and have completed the present invention, which relates to an easy-to-manufacture device that can efficiently separate blood without placing it in a centrifugal force field. That is, the present invention provides a device for separating blood components made of a hard member, which includes a space having a blood inlet, and at least one space having a cross-sectional area of 3 cm ² or less communicating with the space. a tubular, substantially horizontal blood flow path; a space communicating with a downstream side of the flow path;
The present invention relates to a device for separating blood components characterized by comprising at least two discharge ports for separated blood components provided in this space. The channel used in the present invention for flowing blood in a tubular shape is preferably a thin tubular channel in order to increase interaction with red blood cells, and its cross-sectional area is preferably 3 cm ² or less, more preferably 0.0003cm ² ~
A tubular channel of 1 cm ² , more preferably 0.001 cm ² to 0.5 cm ² is used. In order to increase the interaction of red blood cells in a tubular flow path, length L (cm)/cross-sectional area S (cm ² )
It is desirable that L/S is greater than 10. The shape of the tubular flow path can be any shape such as a cylinder, an elliptical cylinder, a hexagonal cylinder, etc., but a cylinder or a hexagonal cylinder is preferable because it can be easily attached with a spring. By using such a tubular material, the blood component separation device of the present invention can be manufactured very easily. It is preferable that the total volume of the blood flow path used in the present invention is approximately equal to or larger than the space having the discharge port for the separated blood components. The space having the blood introduction part is for the blood introduced into the device of the present invention to be distributed as uniformly as possible in the blood flow path, and may have any shape as long as it achieves this purpose. However, it is desirable that the volume be small. It is practically desirable that the volume of the device of the invention is at least 50 ml. Furthermore, when this device is used for the purpose of extracorporeal circulation, it is desirable that the volume be 500 ml or less. In order to suitably use the device of the present invention, it is desirable to allow blood to flow so that the residence time of the blood in the space having the discharge port for the separated blood components of the device is 2 minutes or more. However, if the residence time of the blood is too long, the amount of blood that can be flowed will decrease, and the amount of separated components obtained will decrease, which is not preferable. Desirably, the blood flow is heated to 35-42°C, more preferably 37-40°C. Aggregation of red blood cells is accelerated as the temperature increases, but if the temperature is too high, hemolysis of red blood cells may occur, which is undesirable. The material of the device of the present invention must be hard and not deformed by internal pressure. In addition, it is necessary that the material is free of toxic eluates and does not easily cause the formation of plugs. For these reasons, synthetic resins such as polycarbonate resin, polypropylene resin, polyethylene resin, polyvinyl chloride resin, and acrylic resin, and metals such as aluminum and stainless steel can be used. It is also possible to make the outside of the device of the present invention from a soft material such as silicone resin, and to reinforce the periphery with a rigid material, for example a shell made of metal such as aluminum. When using a metal shell, by embedding a heater inside it,
It is also possible to easily heat the blood. In the present invention, it is desirable that the blood flow path be provided in a substantially horizontal direction or at an upward angle with respect to the flow direction. Although it is desirable that the channel be smooth, it is acceptable even if the channel is rough to some extent. The apparatus of the present invention will be explained below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the blood component separation device of the present invention, and the inside is shown for easy understanding. In FIG. 1, the container 1 has a space A3 having a blood inlet 2, a flow path 4 communicating with the space A, and a space B8 having discharge ports 6, 7 and communicating with the flow path 4. . After the blood is added with an anticoagulant and introduced into the space A3 through the inlet 2, it is continuously sent into each channel 4. The blood that has exited the flow path 4 is separated into a supernatant layer and a precipitate layer consisting of red blood cells and the like in the space B8. The separated components are continuously discharged from the discharge ports 6 and 7. In order to suppress the mixing of components of the precipitated layer into the discharged supernatant layer, it is desirable to adjust the discharge rate of each component by using a detection means such as an optical method. As described above, the present invention provides a novel device for separating blood into several components by an extremely simple and compact means without applying centrifugal force. platelet plasma,
Components such as red blood cell concentrate blood, granulocyte concentrate blood and platelet rich plasma can be obtained. Further, platelet concentrate and platelet-poor plasma can be obtained from the platelet-rich plasma obtained. Furthermore, by removing substances harmful to the living body from platelet-rich plasma, it is also possible to achieve therapeutic purposes. The method of using the apparatus of the present invention will be explained with reference to an experimental example using stored blood in FIG.
is heated in a constant temperature bath 10. The blood in the container 13 is pumped out by the pump 11 and sent into the device 9, and the platelet-rich plasma separated in the device 9 is pumped out into the pump 11 and collected into the platelet-rich plasma collecting container 15. When the red blood cell detection means 12 detects an increase in the red blood cell concentration in the platelet-rich plasma, the operation of the pump 11 is stopped. Concentrated red blood cell blood flows out of the device 9 and is collected into a concentrated red blood cell collection container 14. Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be explained in more detail with reference to Examples. Example 1 Using acrylic resin as a container, a blood inlet port,
A blood component separation device as shown in FIG. 1 and Table 1 was prepared using stainless steel pipes as tubular materials for the outlet and flow path. Using this device, we created a blood component separation system as shown in Figure 2, and conducted a separation experiment by feeding pig blood, which had been prevented from coagulating with heparin and warmed to 37°C, at a rate of 1.5 ml/min. The results are also shown in Table 1.

[Table] As described in detail above, by using the device of the present invention, not only can blood be separated into multiple components without using centrifugal force, but it can also be easily performed in a narrow hospital room, etc. Therefore, it is extremely useful for plasmapheresis therapy and plasma purification therapy for patients with collagen diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis where increased blood sedimentation is observed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the plasma component separation apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an experimental example of component separation using the apparatus of FIG. 1. 1: Container, 2: Blood introduction port, 3: Space A,
4: blood flow path, 5: flow path pipe, 6: outlet,
7: Discharge port, 8: Space B, 9: Blood component separation device, 10: Constant temperature bath, 11: Pump, 12: Red blood cell detector, 13: Preserved blood container, 14: Concentrated red blood cell collection container, 15 : Platelet-rich plasma collection container.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A blood component separation device made of a hard member, which includes a space having a blood inlet;
at least one tubular, substantially horizontal blood flow channel with a cross-sectional area of 3 cm ² or less communicating with the space, a space communicating with the downstream side of the flow channel, and at least one tube provided in the space. 1. A device for separating blood components, comprising two discharge ports for separating blood components.