Recovery of platelet-rich red blood cells and acquisition of convalescent plasma with a novel gravity-driven blood separation device.

Objectives: Our objectives were to determine the separation characteristics and blood product quality of a gravity-driven microfiltration blood separation system (HemoClear, The Netherlands).

Background: A range of centrifugal blood separation devices, including intraoperative cell salvage devices (cell savers) and apheresis machines, are available to assist in preparing both allogenic and autologous blood products. These devices are expensive to operate and require extensive training.